


Mirai Shinobi

by Man_of_Wrath



Category: Dragon Ball, Naruto
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2021-03-18
Packaged: 2021-04-12 15:40:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 15
Words: 77,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21644284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Man_of_Wrath/pseuds/Man_of_Wrath
Summary: A freak accident with the Time Machine warps Trunks and Bulma to the world of shinobi. Having lived as a survivor in his own world, Trunks will endure trials as a soldier in this new world. -Features a 14Y.O Future Trunks-Starts during the beginning of the series-
Comments: 1
Kudos: 15





	1. Warped

A/N: What's up readers! This is me attempting a challenge from SparkinClark. I feel that the, Gohan goes to Konoha-Gohan becomes a shinobi-Gohan is an overpowered badass, thing has been done to its fullest. So, this challenge gives me a chance to try something a little different. Lets see how this goes!

“This is talking.”

‘This is thinking.’

**“This is an attack.”/ ‘This is an attack.’ **(Whether a character calls their attack name or thinks their attack name will vary based on the situation.)

_ This is a flashback / dream sequence _

_ *This is a voice in someone’s head* _

XXX

"Hey Ma! Where did you say the monkey wrench was again?" A teens voice called out from inside a yellow dome building.

A woman with blue hair tied in a loose ponytail, dressed in a dirty red jumpsuit, sat outside screwing in bolts to a tall yellow machine. The machine, oddly enough, looked similar to an airplane, with yellow turbines connected all around it. If one had to describe its shape, it would be egg-like, with a single seated glass dome built into the top. The glass dome would allow the pilot a 360-degree view of the outside. There were several opened sections to the machine’s body, showing off a series of wires and cords to the machine’s insides.

The woman stood up, wiping sweat from her brow before calling back in an annoyed voice, “Like I said before honey, it's in the toolbox under my work table. The one across the window!” She picked up a rag and used it to wipe the grime and dirt from her face. 

Tossing the rag onto her toolbox nearby, she stretched her back, before she took a second to turn and gaze out over the ruins of what was once a sprawling city. 

She sighed sadly, ‘It’ll all be over soon.’

It'd been fourteen long and horrible years since Son Goku died, only for things to get _ much _ worse when Dr. Gero’s terrible creations surfaced. The Androids had made it their hobby to hunt down and kill _ every _ human being they encountered; man, woman… and child. They’d even slaughtered the Z-Warriors, the men who made up Earth’s Special Forces. 

Piccolo, son of the once feared Demon King, sensei to the son of Goku, and the other half of the Earth’s guardian, was the first to fall to the cyborgs. His death killed the DragonBalls as well, rendering all chances at reversing the damage caused by the Androids, near non-existent.

Vegeta, prince of the saiyan race and rival to Goku, was the next to fall… even with his ascension into his race’s legendary transformation. With Vegeta’s death, the prince being undoubtedly the strongest of the Earth’s Special Forces, the Androids cemented themselves as a force that could not be stopped by any means.

Then came Yamcha’s death, then Tien’s, then Chiaotzu’s, then Krillin’s.

For over a decade, the only survivor of the Earth’s Special Forces had been Son Gohan, the son of Goku… but even he had fallen to the Androids.

With no one left to stand up to the two cyborgs, the world's population had been reduced to a mere_ third _of what it was before, with all remaining humans having been forced into hiding, and reduced to living every day in fear. 

The machine that Bulma was building, might have been their only hope at bringing their world peace.

She turned when she heard the back door open, and smiled when she saw the only pride and joy she had left in this world. A fourteen year old boy with blue eyes and lavender hair in a curtained haircut, the hair of which he let fall in front of his left eye. While the boy did take after his mother in his eye color and odd-colored hair, one could see he took on many of his father’s masculine facial features as well. 

The teen wore a white, long sleeved capsule corp. shirt, and grey sweatpants, with a sword fastened tight behind his back. 

He brought with him a giant silver wrench.

“Here’s the wrench you were looking for mom.” The teen handed it to his mother.

“Thanks sweetie.” She took the wrench and went back to working on the machine.

Trunks took a seat on a supply box and boredly watched his mother work. “You know mom, I still think this is a big waste of time. What makes you think it would be possible to _ time travel _?”

Bulma chuckled lightly at her son's young ignorance, “You know son, people used to say stuff just like that to your Grandfather when he invented capsules. And what do you know, we became the richest people in the world because of it.” she continued screwing in the bolts to one of the steel plates.

“Yeah,” Trunks admitted, “but a capsule and a time machine don't exaclty go hand in hand. Besides, I don't think I’ll need a bunch of dead people from the past to help with the androids. I’m a super saiyan now incase you forgot.”

“Incase _ you _ forgot, so was Gohan, Trunks. And not only was he a super saiyan, but he had _ thirteen _years of experience as one backing him up.”

At the mention of his fallen master, the teen flinched, and his face became downcast. 

It had been almost a year since Son Gohan was killed by Androids #17 and #18. 

Bulma sympathised with her son, he was still mourning over his master and best friend’s loss. “I know you miss him Trunks, I do too. But think of it this way sweetheart, you going back to the past gives you the chance to see him again.”

That brightened up the saiyans mood. He nodded and smiled, “Kay mom. Thanks.”

The boy watched as his mother went back to work on the Time Displacement Machine. Knowing she couldn’t be the only busy one between the two of them, he decided to head over into the garden in their backyard… or what was left of it.

Capsule Corp used to have a massive courtyard behind the building that served as its impromptu backyard. Said courtyard once held a beautiful garden, a luscious fountain, and a patio large enough to hold any party or celebration. When West City was attacked, the courtyard sustained so much damage that now, it was merely a bed of cracked cement and scorched dirt… a shadow of its former beauty.

Bulma did her work on one side of the courtyard, the area she chose being cement based and closest to the home. The ruined garden Trunks stood in was a good distance away from his mother, which was perfect for his intent.

The boy pulled out his sword, giving it a twirl before holding it tight in a two-handed grip. The blade was leveled right down his center, the boy’s eyes hardening as he imagined his opponent.

A young man with shoulder length black hair and ice-blue eyes served as Trunks enemy. The half-saiyan’s blue eyes grew filled with hatred as the opponent only he could see smirked sinisterly at him.

With a battle-cry, Trunks lunged at his imaginary opponent, swinging his sword furiously at the young man that brought him so much pain. The demi-saiyan swung his sword for the young man’s head, taking it clean off.

To someone watching, it would appear that the boy was aggressively going through various sword kata’s. The saiyan boy swung his sword around in a wide-arc, before leaping high into the air to bring his sword down, bisecting an invisible opponent. 

Trunks weaved a punch from Android #17, before flipping back to avoid a roundhouse kick from Android #18. He flew back in with a kick that knocked the female Android away, the instant the saiyan’s foot touching the ground he spun a kick into #17.

Trunks shook his head, bringing himself back to reality. He looked around, eyeing the large chunks of broken and upheaved concrete littered around the courtyard. 

He vanished; the slabs of concrete flinging high up into the air less than seconds after. Trunks reappeared in the center of the courtyard, the boy having thrown the large concrete pieces high up into the air as a means of target practice.

Yellow orbs of light filled the half-saiyans palms, before he rapidly fired the orbs of light at the large pieces of debris.

Bulma ignored the sounds of explosions and lights flickering above her, the woman both being invested in her work and having gotten used to this act. A peddle of concrete landed on her shoulder, the blue haired woman simply brushing it off and continuing her work.

Trunks eyed the last piece of debris as it fell, the boy rolling his shoulders before he pulled his sword again.

One second he was in one spot, and another second he was in another spot in the courtyard, sword held at his side in post-swing.

Oddly, the concrete boulder hung suspended in the air before the boy stood straight up, and re-holstered his blade.

The boulder burst apart in a shower of pebbles.

With a triumphant grin, the boy pumped his fist, “Yes! I’m getting _ way _ better at that!”

And he continued his training.

After a few hours of extra work, Bulma managed to put together the necessary components of the time machine. She let out a tired breath, and a triumphant smile crossed her lips. “Well, it took forever, but the T.M Mark 1 is finally done!” The woman checked her watch. “And it's only a quarter past three!” Meaning she only worked for about six hours that day.

Trunks walked up next to his mom, anticipated smile on his face. “So, the Time Machines finally done?” 

Bulma dusted her hands, “Hmm, not exactly. _ This _is just a prototype. I’m gonna have to run some tests on it for safety precautions and functionality.” She pointed to a giant red mechanical box that all the wires flowed from the time machine flowed into. It was a fair distance away. “Go power up the generator, I need to give it a run.”

The son of Vegeta walked over to the alternator, flipping a few switches and watching as it revved to life, sputtering a few times but staying on. It gave off the strong musk of gasoline. He watched as a few electronic beeps from the time machine began to resound, making his mother whoop and almost leap up and down in joy. He smiled for a moment before his eyes widened at the sight of electricity popping out of the machine. Bulma covered her eyes as the flashes got brighter. The air grew warmer as the machine grew much more volatile, parts of it exploding in white flashes, smoke, and heavy static.

Bulma let out a cry as a shock wave knocked her on her rear. She gasped in horror as she noticed the state of the machine.

It was gonna explode.

“MOM!” Trunks shouted as he sprinted as fast as his saiyan body would take him to protect his mother.

The teen leaped on top of her just as the machine exploded, shielding her from the blast. A searing pain covered Trunks body as he took the blast full force. An electric sting could be felt on every square inch of him, making him cry out in agonizing pain.

All there was in his vision was a blinding light. He knew that if he didn't go blind after this it would be a miracle. A voice in the back of his head gave him some clarity. 

At least his mother was safe.

When the explosion ended, the time machine was completely obliterated, leaving nothing left of it in existence. Only, there was something else wrong.

The Briefs were gone as well. West City didn't have a single human being left within’ it.

XXX

The streets of the Hidden Leaf were bustling with people. It was a beautiful star filled night and the village illuminated with lights as children ran through the streets with their friends, couples went on romantic strolls, and other people went to the various stores present in the shopping district. It wasn’t a festival, or even a special occasion. Just a lively night where people enjoyed themselves. 

Atop various buildings, cloaked figures stood overlooking their village, ready to kill or arrest anything that permitted them to. They stood as still as statues, and as silent as ghosts in the night.

These were the shinobi, the soldiers of this village.

At the center of the village, where people were the most active, winds began to pick up, quickly swirling until they could be described as violent, creating a sense of disarray among the villagers. Shinobi began to move in closer to get a view of the phenomena, those atop buildings appearing on the village streets in the blink of an eye. 

Suddenly, a small orb flashed into existence with a flare of electricity. As the orb started to flash brighter and grow larger, high-voltage electricity began to violently shoot out of it, zapping nearby buildings. A few shinobi moved in to keep the villagers at bay. Though some unlucky individuals got struck and were severely injured. When the orb grew its pinnacle, it began to take a metallic appearance, reflecting its surroundings and the civilians off of it.

There was a moment of silence among the people as they watched the light show die down and the electricity stop flowing. The sphere began to get more translucent, urging the ninja to step up closer, cautiously. Some pulled kunai and others had their hands ready to summon a jutsu.

When the sphere completely dissipated, the last thing anyone expected to see was an injured teenage boy on top of an older woman, obviously his mother, in a crater left by the orb. The boys shirt and pants were singed with holes, and he had burn scars on his face and hands. The woman they noticed had taken considerably less physical damage, but was still unconscious. The shinobi could tell that the boy had been trying to protect his mother from whatever it was that sent him there.

“What the hell?” A ninja said in disbelief, also voicing what was going through everyone else's mind.

The boy’s breathing was pained and ragged. He couldn't bring himself to move from his mother, still feeling that they were in danger. Trunks could feel several dozen eyes staring hard at him, but the muscles in his body were too locked up to move. He could only look down at his mother’s injured and unconscious face, which pained him even more. He couldn't feel her energy.

Trunks weakly let out, “M-mom… please… no… s-someone… help.” He himself was losing consciousness, his vision fading to black as the sound of various footsteps approached him.

XXX

The Hokage was in the Konoha hospital, standing, pipe in mouth, as doctors hastily pushed two beds past him to the ER. Hiruzen received word in detail fairly quickly when he heard of the incident. The old man couldn't seem to catch a break as he spent the entire day studying economic trends in his village, planning meetings with other allied villages, only to have several shinobi practically kick his door in to tell him about two people practically warping into existence… as ludicrous as it sounded.

A man with white hair and most of his face covered, save for his right eye, walked up next to Sarutobi, bringing him out of his thoughts.

“Kakashi, have you received word on the visitors?” Sarutobi asked, not looking at the man, but automatically knowing who it was.

The man had a lazy tone in his voice, “Although the boy appears to have taken most of the physical damage from whatever attacked them, the woman appears to be in the more life threatening condition.”

The old man raised an eyebrow, “Interesting. Were there any clues left behind as to what could have brought them here?”

Kakashi slowly shook his head, “No. But we were able to recover a sword strapped to the boys back, and from the woman,” Kakashi pulled out a small silver case and handed it to the Hokage, “a tray full of small white devices.”

The hokage opened the case to see nine tiny white pods, each having a different number labeled on it, and a small piece of paper telling what each number was for. Hiruzen also noticed the strange blue ‘C’ engraved on the top of the case. Deciding it was all a bit too much for him to wrap his mind around at the moment, Hiruzen handed the small capsule case back to Kakashi, and made his way to the ER that the boy and the woman were at, followed by Kakashi.

Sarutobi stood outside the room, watching as the doctors wrapped gauze around the injured parts of the boy’s body, also slipping a breathing tube down his throat before focusing more attention on the woman’s injuries, hers being more serious.

For a second the boy’s eyes fluttered open, seeing his mother being tended to by the doctors, whom seemed to be rushing and uncertain.

“M-m-moth-er…” Trunks mumbled out, his arm slowly reaching out to her. One of the doctors noticed and attempted to inject the teen with an anesthetic syringe to put him unconscious. Only, the needle broke off on his skin.

“How in Gods name?” The doctor asked himself, but saw the boy lose consciousness on his own accord. The doctor didn't have a chance to dwell on how the boys skin was needle-proof, as he was called to grab more gauze by the other doctors to tend to the woman.

One doctor noticed the Hokage outside the room, and approached him. He bowed before speaking, “Lord Hokage, we know for a fact that the boy will be okay. He’ll be back up in a few days and ready for questioning then.”

Kakashi spoke up for the Hokage, “What about the woman?”

“We’re still unsure. She’s in critical condition, and she’ll likely be out for several days, maybe even a few weeks if she’s unlucky.” The doctor spoke.

The Hokage took a puff on his pipe, thinking things over.

The doctor spoke up again, “Please Lord Hokage, it’s late. Get some sleep. We’ll inform you of their condition tomorrow.” The doctor hurried back into the medical room.

Hiruzen took another look at the injured boy and mother, before turning and moving to walk out of the hospital. Kakashi watched the Hokage leave, but stayed to watch the boy who seemed to be fighting to wake back up.

XXX

A/N: Alright, first chapter down! 

Now, I do want to forewarn you guys, that this story will (mildly) follow Naruto-canon up until about the end of the Chunin exams. After that, this story will branch off into an identity of its own.

Hope you enjoy the adventure!

  
  
  
  
  



	2. Brave New World

A/N: I really love the feedback I got on the last chapter. Lets hope that this chapter is just as enjoyable.

XXX

Hiruzen was in his office, painting a black kanji on a large white opened scroll. It was mid-day and one of the few days that he actually got a break from work, so he figured he might as well spend it doing something he enjoyed. His morning would have been perfect had he not had to deal with that trouble-making prankster of a godson, who saw fit to pour yellow food coloring into the hot springs. The old man chuckled. No matter how badly Naruto Uzumaki got under his skin, he still loved the boy like a grandson.

The door to his office opened, revealing a doctor and a nurse. The two bowed before the doctor spoke up, “Lord Hokage, the boy is regaining consciousness. He can be interrogated whenever you see fit.” Hiruzen nodded.

XXX

Trunks could slowly feel his body again, although he had yet to open his eyes. He could feel something wrapped around his arms, legs, and parts of his face. The teen assumed they were bandages. He slowly opened his eyes to notice he was indeed in a hospital room. The saiyan attempted to sit up only to feel a soreness in his torso and arms, making him grunt in pain.

“I wouldn't move too fast if I were you. Especially with those injuries.” Trunks looked to his right to see a man leaning against a wall reading a book. The man had spiky silver hair that was forced up due to his headband, that the saiyan could see had an odd swirly symbol that resembled a leaf. The man also wore a mask that covered his face up to his nose and kept his headband down at an angle that covered his left eye.

‘How did I not sense him?’ Trunks thought to himself. He had no idea where he was, or who this man was, so he decided that it was better to keep his mouth shut.

Excusing the boys silence, Kakashi continued, not taking his eyes off his book, “So, you wanna tell me about...whatever that was three nights ago?”

Trunks looked down at his bedsheets, deep in thought, ‘C-could the time machine have really worked? Or...is this  _ more  _ than time travel?’ The saiyan looked at the masked man. “You wouldn't believe me if I told you.”

Kakashi shrugged, “Try me.” He stopped reading his book when he saw the teen sigh.

Trunks lied back in the bed, a blank look on his face that read that what he was saying was pointless, “Would you believe me, If I told you my mom made a time machine, and it backfired and sent us here?”

Kakashi gave him a pointed look, “Ok.”

Trunks raised a questionable eyebrow, “Ok? You actually believe what I just said?!”

Kakashi wordlessly put his book away before turning to walk out the room, “Yeah, I do.” He said before he closed the door, leaving Trunks in a questionable gape. Just outside the door was Sarutobi and a man with blonde hair tied in a ponytail.

“So, what did he say?” Sarutobi asked.

Kakashi crossed his arms, a look in his eye showing that he couldn't believe what he heard, but had no choice but to accept it, “He told the truth. Had you not had Inoichi here scan the woman’s memories I wouldn't have believed it.”

The blonde man nodded. He had his arms crossed and was leaned against a wall, “Yeah. I couldn't believe it myself when I saw it, but those two are definitely not of this world.”

The Hokage pinched the space between his brow, it was rare that the old man didn't have a solution to something, and in this instance it was stressing him out. He decided to walk into the medical room himself, alone.

When Trunks saw the old man walk into his room, he became nervous. The man was wearing a set of robes that obviously showed he meant some level of importance in whatever land this was, and the fact that he was injured showed that he was at these peoples mercy for the time being.

The man spoke, “Hello Trunks, my name is Hiruzen Sarutobi. The leader of this village, the Hokage.”

That one sentence alone was enough to fill Trunks with questions. The first one that came to mind was, “H-How do you know my name?”

The Hokage grinned, “We have our ways.” He got serious again, “Now, I’m sure you want to know where you are,” He pointed to the window on the right side of the room, which Trunks looked out, fascinated at what he saw, “this is Konohagakure, the Village Hidden in the Leaves. I suppose you haven’t heard of this have you?” 

The saiyan shook his head, as expected by the Hokage.

The Saiyan looked to his left, eyes widening as he noticed his mother's bed missing. "H-hey, wh-where's my mother!?" The saiyans anticipation built up, thinking the worst as he sat up in bed, attempting to climb out of it. He grunted loudly in pain at his wounds.

The Hokage held up a hand to calm him, "You're mother's been moved to a separate room. She suffered severe injuries from your travel. She'll be fine, you don't have to worry."

The saiyan still pulled back his covers in an attempt to leave the bed, “I have to see her. I_ have _to see for myself that she’s ok.” He ignored the pain that came with moving, but stopped in his tracks as the Hokage approached him. The old man put hands on his arms, and the saiyan could feel most of the pain fade away. Hiruzen repeated the process with the boys torso. Trunks found the pain having dulled out for a majority, but was still somewhat there.

“I’ve healed your wounds enough for you to move around, but you're going to have to give time for them to heal in full.” Hiruzen stepped back, letting the boy climb out of bed.

“Thank you.” Trunks said with a slight bow of his head. The teen noticed himself wearing a white medical gown, his original clothes having been removed.

The Hokage did a motion with his hand, “Follow me, I’ll take you to her.” The lavender haired boy followed behind the old man.

As he left the room, he saw two men giving him a cautious eye. One of them was the man he saw earlier, and another was a man with blonde hair tied in a ponytail. The saiyan also took notice of a few doctors giving him passing glances as he walked down the hallway. As they walked passed an ER, the saiyan could see several people wrapped up in fullbody casts and gauze. What little exposed flesh that they had appeared to be badly burned.

Trunks asked the Hokage, not taking his eyes off the injured people, “What happened to them?”

Hiruzen kept looking forward, but still spoke, “You're visit caused quite a few people to get seriously injured. Most in critical condition.” Almost like he had eyes on the back of his head, Hiruzen could tell Trunks head was down in sorrow, “But they will live. That is certain.” He attempted to cheer the boy up. It sort of worked.

As the two came to a stop at the window that peered inside Bulma’s room, Trunks heart grew heavy, and tears started to burn his eyes as he noticed the full condition of his mother. There were at least three doctors in the room; one who had a clipboard, taking notes, another who was sorting medical equipment, and the third who was trashing the used equipment. Bulma had a breathing machine hooked up to her mouth and nose, and she had bandages on her arms and face, from what he saw. The rest of her body was under a blanket. 

The saiyans hands were pressed against the window, “Mother...why.” Tears started streaming down Trunks face. “God, why. She’s all I have left. I  _ can’t  _ lose her too.” He was starting to sob.

The Hokage gave the boy a look of sympathy, he placed his hand on his shoulder. “She will be fine. You're mother is in a mini-coma. She should wake up in a few weeks.” 

The saiyan wiped his eyes. “But what do I do now? I have nowhere to go.”

Hiruzen gave the boy a warm, grandfatherly smile. “Well it’s not within my character to let a boy sleep on the streets. Follow me to my office, I’ll see about getting you a place to stay within the village.”

“Wait, but, where are my clothes? And my-”

“Sword?” The Hokage finished. “Your clothes were ruined, and I’ve made sure your sword was kept safe in my office.”

Trunks nodded, and proceeded to follow the Hokage out of the hospital. As the saiyan got a good look at the village architecture, he was fascinated. It wasn't the same metropolitan city that he was used to, with skyscrapers and flying cars and whatnot, but at least this place wasn't in ruins. The son of Vegeta could see the villagers giving him looks, some were fascinated, others were hateful glares, and some were whispering to each other, about him obviously.

The saiyan shook it off, knowing they did have good reason to be wary of him. Trunks took notice of them approaching a large red building located in the center of the village. The Hokage’s building. The two approached a set of double doors guarded by two shinobi, who, at the sight of Trunks, became apprehensive. With a leveled hand from the Hokage, they calmed down. But still threw a glance at Trunks as he walked through the door.

The two walked up a flight of stairs, and into the Hokage’s office.

Hiruzen took a seat at his desk, Trunks standing nervously out in front of him. The Hokage then reached under his table and pulled out Trunks sword, setting it out for the saiyan to take. “Now, I do want to ask you, Trunks” The third pulled out the silver tray from under his desk, making Trunks face brighten in familiarity. “What in the  _ world  _ are these things?”

“The Capsules!” Trunks said brightly, ‘Leave it to mom to always be prepared.’ he thought.

“Capsules?” The third repeated, unfamiliar with the devices.

“Yeah, they allow you to store larger objects and carry them around with you.”

The third raised an eyebrow, ‘So they’re like sealing scrolls, but more convenient. How interesting.’ Sarutobi laid the tray down which Trunks took. The saiyan opened it to read what all his mother brought with them;

A small house, a set of clothes, a week’s worth of food, some tools and tech equipment, and one empty capsule. The saiyan smiled at the selection, ‘I guess my mom always kept a spare house in case we had to evacuate West City.  _ Very  _ smart move on her part.’ Trunks took the clothes capsule and pushed the button, then tossed it. It exploded in white vapor, making the Hokage raise a curious eyebrow. Luckily he kept the door closed, or else Anbu would have been all over Trunks like piranhas in a feeding frenzy.

The old man was surprised to see a wardrobe appear. The saiyan opened it and wasn't too surprised to see it was mostly his mom’s clothes. He got lucky to find another capsule corp. shirt similar to his old one, along with another pair of gray sweatpants. He looked into a bottom drawer and pulled out a pair of blue boots. He took his clothes and walked behind the wardrobe, getting dressed in his clothes. He looked the same as he did when he arrived here, his sleeves and pants covering his bandages. He had a piece of gauze taped to his cheek, the only noticeable bandage.

He tossed the capsule back to the wardrobe, sealing it and sticking it back in the tray that he then stuck in his pocket.

‘Interesting indeed.’ The Hokage thought. “Now, Trunks-kun, I take it you're a warrior of some kind?” The Hokage took in the boys build, it was slim, and highly in tone. Obviously that of a fighter. He also took note of the fact that the boy mostly recovered from a volatile journey, in a span of a few days. The fact that the boy was also carrying a sword was another big fat giveaway to the Fire Shadow.

Trunks responded with a slight shrug, “I guess you could say I’m something like that.”

The Hokage asked Trunks, “Are you familiar with the concept of Chakra?”

Trunks raised a questionable eyebrow, “No, I’m not. But I assume it’s what you use for energy here?”

The Hokage grinned, “Right you are, Trunks-kun. You see, Chakra is essential to even our most basic techniques. It requires a combination of spiritual energy, otherwise known as Ki, and physical energy, or stamina. It allows us to use such abilities like  walking on water, exhaling fire, or creating illusions.”

“Oh,” The saiyan started, “Well, where I come from we use our spiritual energy alone.” Trunks said casually.

The Hokage’s eyes widened. “I-Impossible. One cannot simply use Ki on its  _ own _ . Only a Sage has the _ potential  _ to wield a natural energy such as ki.”

Trunks raised an eyebrow and gave a smirk, “Wanna bet?” He raised his right hand up and formed a small yellow sphere of energy, shocking the Hokage.

“Incredible.” The Hokage said in awe, “The ability to summon raw energy without the use of hand signs? Truly astounding.”

The saiyan shrugged, “It was just a normal Ki ball, nothing special.”

“Would you mind giving me another demonstration?” The Hokage asked.

The saiyan wordlessly let himself lift off the ground, floating up to where his head was close to the ceiling, making the old man’s eye twitch in disbelief. ‘U-Unbelievable,  _ this  _ is what Ki can do for a person? The only known person who can fly is the Tsuchikage.’ The Hokage shook himself out of his stupor.

“I take it not many people around here know how to fly?” Trunks asked, lowering back to the ground. The Hokage shook his head, prompting the saiyan to continue, “So would it not be possible for anyone here to learn Ki? I mean, I learned it while I was pretty young.”

The Hokage slowly shook his head, “No, and for two reasons. Firstly, a shinobi’s body is already adjusted to the use of Chakra. To wield Ki, would mean that a shinobi would have to  _ un _ learn what his body has been trained to do, and vice-versa. Imagine  _ un _ learning how to walk, speak, and ride a bicycle. Secondly, the  _ nature  _ of ki is beyond that of the average shinobi. It’s a natural energy. Only a sage could wield such.”

Trunks nodded in understanding. The Hokage leaned in, an excitedly curious look on his face

to ask, “Would you mind showing me some of its _ offensive  _ abilities?” 

Trunks looked around, taking in the small office space, “Uh, I don't know. Everything here seems pretty valuable.”

“Oh, but I insist.” The Hokage pulled out a medium sized vase from his under his desk, making Trunks wonder, ‘What all does he keep under that desk?’, before the Hokage set the vase out in front of him.

“Just give me a small demonstration.” The saiyan held out his hand, and faster than the Hokage could blink a flash of yellow shot from the boy’s palm and disintegrated the vase.

The Hokage grinned, ‘This boy could definitely be an asset to us. We  _ must  _ have him in our ranks.’ The Hokage leaned forward resting his chin on his closed hands. “How would you feel about becoming a shinobi?”

“A...shinobi? That’s like a ninja right?” Trunks asked.

“Precisely!” The Hokage said heartily. “Shinobi are the villages main line of defense. As you work through the ranks, you will go from doing manual labour, to acting as escorts, gathering classified information, retrieving stolen items, and carrying out assassinations. In times of war, ninja will come together to defend our village.”

Trunks rubbed the back of his neck, not liking the word ‘ _ assassination _ ’, “I don't know. That doesn’t really seem like  _ my  _ kinda line of work. If I kill it’s only out of necessity.”

Hiruzen had a quick response, “Shinobi are allowed to pick their missions. If you wish to avoid any  _ possible _ moral dilemma, then simply sign up for a bodyguard or escort mission. Simple as that. And if you’re faced with an enemy, you’ll be allowed discretion in how you handle the threat.”

Trunks frowned, looking off to the side, ”I don't think I’m gonna be around for long. I’m not even supposed to be here  _ now. _ ”

“Well how about this” Sarutobi said, knowing he’d have to slide in a bit of underhanded blackmail, “As long as you and your mother stay in the village,  _ you  _ become a shinobi, and you will earn money for food, and other necessities. At least until your mother wakes up, when she does, we will take things from there.”

Trunks thought it over. These people  _ did  _ help him and his mother, and he  _ was  _ offering him space within the village while they continued to nurse his mother. He could at least return the favor by helping their people. “O-Okay. Fine. I’ll do it.” Trunks decided. His mother’s health in exchange for his fist’s and sword. He figured that was a decent trade off to this village for their help.

“Excellent. You will attend the academy first thing in the morning. Classes start at 8’ sharp.” Hiruzen pulled a scroll and tossed it to the saiyan, who opened it to see it was a map of the village. “Now, we need to see about finding you a place to stay.” Trunks waved it off.

“Don't worry about it. Just point me in the direction of the nearest woods and I can take it from there.”

The Hokage looked questionable, but came to the conclusion that the boy must have something tucked away in those ‘capsules’. “Keep going east and you won’t miss them.” 

Trunks bowed, “Thank you, sir.” He said gratefully, not really knowing what to call the man.

“Just call me some variation of ‘Hokage’, everyone else does.” The Hokage chuckled. Trunks nodded before he strapped his sword to his back, buckling the front. As he turned to leave, he heard Hiruzen call, “I expect to hear from you at the Academy tomorrow. I’ll inform your teacher.”

“No problem, I’ll be there.” Trunks said sincerely before walking out of the Hokage’s building. As he walked out he noticed the two shinobi from earlier were still there. They watched him like a hawk as he walked past them, although they didn't say anything to him.

As the saiyan walked through the village, he could sense the villagers still staring at him, he looked up to see a few people giving him mean glares. He walked behind a nearby alley, looking to see if there was anyone following him before lifting off into the air. The saiyan made sure to stay above the buildings to take away more of the risk of someone seeing him. 

Trunks made his way over the Konoha forests, and landed in them. The saiyan found a clearing that stood out, “I guess this is good enough to set up home.” The saiyan pulled out the house capsule and activated it. It revealed a small, but livable, yellow capsule house. The saiyan smiled and walked inside. He noticed that it was neatly furnished, with a kitchen and two small bedrooms. It had everything to keep him accommodated. Trunks made his way to a bedroom and crashed down on the bed. He looked to the digital clock to his left and saw it read ‘7:49 pm.’. Knowing the time only made the saiyan more tired.

A realization of irony hit the half-saiyan, something that made him chuckle.

He was a _ long  _ way from home and in  _ completely  _ unfamiliar territory… yet  _ this  _ was the most at ease he’d felt in a long time.

In seconds, he was out, a small smile glued to his face.

XXX

A/N: Pretty lame way to end the chapter, but it was already long enough as it is. Now, Trunks will be starting the Ninja Academy first thing next chapter, and thus will begin the start of the series. Pairings will remain a secret for now, and will start to reveal themselves later on. Although you are free to leave suggestions or guess what you think they’ll be. All I have to say regarding this chapter, so, until next time, REVIEW!!!

  
  



	3. Academy

A/N: Chapter 3 up!

XXX

A meeting was held in the Hokage’s building during the night. None of the Village elders appeared to appreciate being summoned at three o’clock in the morning, but they all sucked it up and answered their call.

In a special meeting room within the building, a small rectangular table sat in the center, with two couches facing the long edges, and two chairs facing the short edges. Homura and Koharu occupied the couches while Hiruzen and Danzo took the chairs,

Hiruzen cleared his throat before speaking, “So, as you all must have heard, three nights ago there was a rather…  _ uncommon, _ event that took place within’ the village.”

An old man with glasses and a beard, Homura Mitokado, the Village elder, spoke up, “Yes, I believe a young boy and a woman appeared under questionable circumstances.”

“Precisely.” The Hokage continued. “The two were injured and hospitalized. Trunks, the boy, has recently awoken, and is now taking refuge within the village.”

“You truly think its a wise decision to let two unknowns take refuge in the village?” Danzo asked.

“After having Inoichi scan over the woman’s memories, yes, I do.” Hiruzen said. “It is a fact that neither of them are from an enemy village; actually, what may come as a surprise to you is the revelation that they are not from here, from this world to be candid.”

For a moment everyone was silent, pondering on what they just heard. Koharu spoke up, “What are we going to do with the boy until his mother awakens?”

The Hokage grinned, knowing he was going to stir up controversy among the council, “The boy has shown me that he is an adept Ki user. For this reason, he will join our ranks.”

“Impossible,” Homura objected, “Ki is one’s life force, you know this Hiruzen. To use it would be a death sentence.”

“Yes Koharu, that is true. A shinobi as we know wouldn't be able to use Ki, but that only furthers the point that the boy is not from here.”

Danzo voiced his thoughts, “You say that the boy is joining our shinobi forces. How would his Ki abilities benefit us? From what I know, Ki, as a natural energy, would be akin to senjutsu would it not?”

Hiruzen again nodded, “Although the average shinobi wouldn't use Ki and vice-versa, the boy has shown that his Ki can provide him with rather unique abilities, such as the ability to fly.” This prompted Danzo’s eye to widen while Koharu and Homura nodded approvingly. Hiruzen noticed Danzo’s eye widen.

The Fire Shadow knew that would lead to difficulties later. “I think I’ll tell Iruka to schedule a spar between the students, just so we can get a gauge for just where the boy stands among his peers.” 

“Why send the boy to the Academy?” Koharu asked, “If he’s already trained, why stick him with a genin team? Wouldn’t he be a better fit for a Chunin team?”

“The boy hasn’t  _ yet _ demonstrated any sort of teamwork capabilities.” Hiruzen explained, “We don’t know how much battle experience he has. We know nothing of his limits. I won’t put him on an experienced team and risk  _ their  _ lives if Trunks-kun proves himself ineffective. He’s in the same age range as the upcoming graduates in the Academy. If he’s put on a genin team with them, this will allow him to gain risk-free shinobi experience. If he can gain any sense of comradery, I’m sure he’ll find himself willingly acclimated to our ways.”

After a series of nods, Hiruzen called a dismissal, letting the council members return to their homes.

XXX

Rays of sunlight seeped through the blinds of the capsule house, filling the home with natural light. A few rays touched down onto the face of the sleeping saiyan, causing him to slowly stir awake. The teen sat up in his bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes before looking to the clock on his nightstand. The red digital numbers read ‘ **7:15** ’. Trunks let out a low groan as he realized he only had forty-five minutes to get to class.

The saiyan stretched his arms, feeling his joints pop in relief before he hopped out of bed and strolled into the bathroom, taking a look at himself in the mirror. He used his hand to brush his wild hair back down in front of his left eye, the way he usually kept it. The saiyan looked at the bandage on his cheek and slowly peeled it off, smiling when he saw that his skin healed to where the injury was no longer noticeable. He then brushed his teeth and went through his usual morning routines. Trunks decided to leave his sword at home for the day.

He didn’t imagine he’d need to slice anyone up today.

As he left the house he dialed a few buttons on a panel installed on the side, causing the house to burst in white vapor, and into a small white capsule in its place. The saiyan pocketed the capsule right after.

The streets of Konoha were pretty barren, although it was rather early in the morning. As the son of Vegeta roamed the streets, he could hear the snickering laughter of a young man drawing near on the rooftops. He was surprised to see a young boy around his age being chased down by a group of adults on the rooftops. The boy had blonde hair with whiskers marks on his face, and was dressed in an orange jumpsuit with goggles fastened to his forehead. Trunks noticed the boy was carrying cans of paint along with him.

"Naruto! Get back here!" One of the men shouted after the blonde.

Naruto snickered, "Ha, give it up! You losers’ll never catch me!”

Trunks couldn't help but grin, the fact that grown men were struggling to catch a kid almost half their size was pretty amusing. He considered helping the men out but figured it wasn't really his problem to deal with. The saiyan pulled out the map scroll and slowly guided his way to the academy.

As he looked up from the map, the saiyan noticed a rather large building located at the base of the Hokage Mountain, the Ninja Academy. When the saiyan prince began making his way to the front entrance, he was surprised to see a man dragging the blonde kid from earlier behind him while scolding him. For some reason, the blonde was tied up with rope. The man, Trunks noticed, had brown hair tied in a ponytail with a long scar running across his nose.

“Seriously Naruto, for someone who's failed the graduation exam  _ twice _ , I would think that you would try to get to class on time!” Iruka scolded Naruto.

“Yeah well it’s not like-” Naruto was cut off when he noticed Trunks awkwardly standing off to the side, causing Iruka to notice the saiyan as well.

“Oh,” Iruka said awkwardly, dropping Naruto, “You must be the new arrival the Hokage told me about.” Iruka took out a clipboard and looked for Trunks name, “Ah, Trunks Briefs was it?”

Trunks nodded nervously, “Y-yes sir.”

Iruka smiled, “Well Trunks, my name is-,”

“Hey, my name’s Naruto Uzumaki, nice to meet ya!” Naruto cut in as somehow broke through the ropes and enthusiastically approached Trunks, putting out his hand for Trunks to shake, which he did.

“Nice to meet you too!” Trunks said back, already feeling comfortable with the kids welcome. 

Iruka smiled, “And my name’s Iruka Umino, the instructor here at the Academy.” He turned and grabbed the handle to the Academy entrance, and shot an irritated glance towards Naruto, “But you’re both late, Naruto, you go inside and take a seat while I introduce Trunks here to the class.”

Naruto negligently waved Iruka off, “Yeah, yeah, I got it Iruka-sensei.” The blonde entered the building.

Iruka glanced at the blonde as he walked through the door before turning back to Trunks. “So Trunks, how do feel? You nervous?”

The saiyan rubbed his shoulder, an obvious sign that he was, indeed, nervous. “To be honest, yeah. I never went to a school before.”

“Home schooled?” Iruka asked, raising a questionable eyebrow.

“Pretty much.” Trunks confirmed. 

Iruka let out a small chuckle, “You’ll be just fine here Trunks. Though I will admit, you’re coming pretty late in the year, so don't get too comfortable with the students. They may be graduating soon.” The saiyan nodded in understanding. 

There was no reason to get attached to the people here anyways.

The saiyan followed behind Iruka as he opened the door, stepping through to reveal a large classroom full of adolescents who were chatting amongst themselves. Iruka silenced them with a clearing of the throat. Iruka stood at the center of the room.

“Hello class. Today we have a new student, so try to make him feel welcome.” Iruka stepped to the side, reveal to the class a nervous looking boy with lavender hair. “Say hello to Trunks Briefs.” That earned a few of snickers from a couple of students, only making Trunks face go redder.

“H-Hello.” Trunks shyly said, his head lowered. 

“Now Trunks, would you happen to be familiar with the concept of Chakra?” Iruka asked.

Trunks nodded, “Yeah, the Hokage told me that's what you all use for energy. I can only use Ki.” 

The class gasped and Iruka looked like he touched an electric wire. 

“K-Ki? You can’t just use ki as an energy!” Iruka almost yelled, “ _ No one _ can use ki! Even if you could it would just kill you!”

The demi-saiyan shook his head, “Sorry, but it’s not  _ that  _ simple.” Trunks held up his hand to where the class and Iruka could clearly see what he was about to do. The teen decided to just rehash what he showed Hiruzen yesterday by allowing a small yellow ball to form in his hand, much to the spectators astonishment, although none more than Naruto and another boy with spiked back black hair in a high collar blue shirt.

‘Wh-What the hell…?’ Sasuke thought in shocked fascination.

Trunks smirked before continuing, keeping the Ki ball steady as if it was effortless, which it was, “Ki’s like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it gets and the more of it you can use in the long run.” Trunks let the ball dissipate.

Iruka scratched his chin, “Interesting. So it’s like Chakra in that regard at least.”

“Hey Iruka.” Iruka turned and was surprised to see it was Sasuke who called out, the class having similar thoughts.

“Yes Sasuke?”

“Would it be possible for me to use Ki?” The Uchiha asked. If there was any other source of energy that could be used against...  _ him,  _ he sure as hell wouldn't mind using it.

Iruka shook his head, “Actually no, Sasuke. Ki, as a natural energy, is something that could be compared to another form chakra known as sage chakra. Only a sage can use sage chakra, so it’s only natural that a sage could possibly use ki… if he was trained to use it.”

A boy with a lazy look in his eyes with black hair in a ponytail spoke up, "That still doesn't explain why  _ he  _ can." he said as he eyed Trunks.

Iruka and the class looked to Trunks for an answer. The teen gave a nervous shrug, "What can I say, I’m differently wired." Trunks gave a nervous laugh. Majority of the room gave him and unsatisfied look.

Iruka gave Trunks a narrowed look, "Uh-huh." The man slowly said. "Well Trunks, I do want to see just where you rank among your peers. So everyone, outside. We're gonna have a little spar." Iruka grinned. 

As the demi-saiyan followed behind Iruka out the door,with the class in tow, he could hear the students whispering about him behind his back.

" _ Hey dude, my dad told me about that guy, he's a total freak." _

_ "Really? What about him?" _

_ "Remember that little incident from a few days ago? Well they say he's the cause of it! And he also just popped in out of thin air. I'm telling you man, this guy can't be normal." _

_ "Damn." _

Other comments were along the lines of,

_ "There's no way that pretty boy could make it as a shinobi."  _

_ "I know right! He thinks he's special because of that little light show." _

_ "I bet he spends more time in front of a mirror than actually training." _

The saiyan could at least hear the girls were a bit more positive about him.

_ "Oh my god, he's so cute!" _

_ "I know! He's almost as hot as Sasuke!" _

_ "I love his eyes!" _

_ "He's so shy too, it's so adorable." _

The saiyan’s face reddened in a mixture of awkwardness and bashfulness. He knew that word going around about him and his mother couldn't be good in the long run, and he knew that the more attention drawn to him would only be made worse. 

Trunks found himself standing next to Iruka with the rest of the students lined out in front of them.

The teacher studied each of the students for a second before choosing his three, "Naruto, Kiba, Sasuke, step forth.” The three did as told. Iruka wouldn’t pick someone like Shikamaru or Choji, knowing he’d need to provide opponents that would give a damn.

Trunks noticed that Kiba was a boy sporting a grey hooded fur lined parka, with red fang tattoos on his cheek, and gave off an aura of arrogance (the cocky grin also gave it away). Trunks also noticed the small white dog perched on Kiba’s head. Iruka spoke mainly to Trunks, but loud enough to where the class could hear, “Alright Trunks, I wanna get a gauge for just how strong you are compared to everyone else. So I’m gonna have you fight these three one on one. Are you ok with that?”

The saiyan read their energy levels and grew uncertain. In terms of  _ pure _ energy, they weren’t very strong compared to him, but their strength towered over the average civilian. Trunks nodded, figuring it was best to just go along.

“Good. Naruto, you’re up first.”

The two teens were standing apart from each other in a wide dirt circle made to simulate a fighting ring. Iruka and the rest of the class were spectating.

Trunks sensed the blondes energy, and something baffled him. On the surface, the blonde was among the weakest of the class. But when he searched deeper, the saiyan could feel something darker, and much _ much  _ more powerful lying underneath. He would have to be cautious.

Iruka held up an arm, “Ready… begin!”

Naruto let out a battle cry and charged at the demi-saiyan, winding his left fist back for a haymaker. As Naruto closed the distance, Trunks reflexes allowed him to sidestep and sweep his feet under the Uzumaki’s legs, the momentum sending him airborne, before the saiyan snapped a kick into his ribs, knocking Naruto out of the ring and tumbling head over heels onto the ground.

Uzumaki was lying upside down half dazed with swirls in his eyes. That raised some concern among several of the more observant students. In terms of fighting skills, Naruto was one of the highest in that regard outside of someone like Kiba and Sasuke, who were above him by a much larger degree.

Iruka lightly coughed, “Ok, um, Trunks Briefs wins by ring out.”

Naruto shook off his daze when he heard he lost, and would have groaned had he not saw a hand lent out to help him up. The blonde smiled when he saw it was Trunks and accepted it, letting the lavender haired teen lift him to his feet. It wasn't often someone would do that for him.

Iruka smiled at the act that went right over the other students heads. “Alright Kiba, you’re up.”

Kiba placed his dog, Akamaru, on the ground before swaggering into the ring, meeting Trunks. Kiba still held his cocky grin as he spoke, “Heh, nice job beauty queen. You think you're big just because you beat a  _ dunce _ like Uzumaki?.” Kiba slid into a fighting stance.

“You talk pretty big for someone who doesn’t know what their opponents capable of.” Trunks casually said, ignoring the insult thrown his way as he slid back into the demon style stance. The stance his master taught him.

“I have no reason not to.” Kiba slid into his family's stance.

Iruka shook his head and mentally sighed, ‘There goes that arrogant attitude of his.’ Iruka referred to the Inuzuka. The Chunin then took note of Trunks fighting stance, ‘Hm, never seen a stance like that before.’ He could tell that it was very strong defensive wise, and left no easy opening for an opponent to penetrate. Whoever taught him, taught him well. Iruka raised an arm, “Begin!” 

Kiba charged at Trunks at a speed much more rapid than Naruto’s. Seeing how Kiba was top of the class, only second to Sasuke, the students were far more invested in this fight.

The Inuzuka jumped into the air in an attempt to land an axe kick at the top of Trunks head. The saiyan lazily put his right hand up to grab Kiba’s leg, stopping him dead in mid air. Trunks swung Kiba by his leg, making him lose balance and the whiplash causing Kiba’s head to spin before throwing him. As Kiba soared through the air he barely managed to get his bearings back together before twisting into a land, his fingers clawing into the ground to keep him from sliding into a ring out.

The Inuzuka got back to his feet, “Heh, guess you're not too bad. But I still have this match in the bag.” 

“Prove it. I can be cocky too ya, know.” Trunks said nonchalantly.

Inuzuka proceeded to charge at the saiyan again, throwing a right hook at the saiyans temple who promptly swatted the fist aside, knocking Kiba’s guard and torso wide open. The saiyan threw a (light for him, hard for Kiba) punch to the Inuzuka’s gut, knocking every bit of wind from the teens body and throwing him clear outside of the ring. Kiba skid along the dirt ground, out cold.

The students stared wide eyed at the outcome.

An overweight boy who was snacking on potato chips paused in awe, he turned to Shikamaru, “I can’t believe he beat Kiba, he was one of the best in class!”

The slacker had a hand on top of his head, him too not believing it, “You’ve gotta be kidding me. That already puts him above everyone else, except Sasuke at least.”

Iruka grabbed Kiba by his arm and dragged him back to the rest of the class. Akamaru whimpered and nudged his unconscious form. Iruka observed the newest member, noticing how he hadn’t even broken a sweat. ‘Just how skilled is this kid?’ The Chunin looked to Sasuke who was already making his way to the ring, ready to put his skills to the test. Iruka tapped his chin in thought, ‘Could he really handle Sasuke? Sure he handled Kiba like he was nothing, but Sasuke’s the rookie of the year.’

Sakura was the one to voice Iruka’s thoughts, and her hands were balled nervously, “Iruka-sensei, do you really think it’s a good idea for Trunks to fight Sasuke-Kun? I mean, sure he beat Kiba and Naruto, but Sasuke’s the best.”

A girl with blonde hair tied in a ponytail with a bang hanging in front of her right eye, Ino Yamanaka, spoke up, “Yeah Iruka, there’s no way Trunks could beat Sasuke.”

The instructor smiled at them, “Who knows, you might be surprised.” He saw the two boys were standing apart from each other, battle stance at the ready.

Sasuke watched the first two matches, and knew he had to give the Demi-saiyan his props, “I must admit, that was pretty impressive the way you handled Kiba, but you’re not beating me, I’m in a league far above anyone else here.”

‘Another cocky one.’ Trunks smirked, “Let's see what you got.”

“Begin!” Iruka called.

Sasuke immediately pulled six shuriken from his pouch and flung them at Trunks, the metal stars leaving an ethereal blur behind them as they flew to the saiyan with missile guided accuracy.

The saiyan half-heartedly weaved and sidestepped through the spaces in between the first five shuriken, the last one he simply swatted to the side like a bothersome fly. Sasuke made a serpentine run into the saiyan, at a speed that appeared to be a blur to the class. The Uchiha made to throw a right hook to the saiyan who put up his hand to block, only the Uchiha faked him out by phasing into the air for a roundhouse kick aimed for Trunks’ head. The saiyan effortlessly blocked the attack with his opposite arm, stopping the kick dead cold.

Sasuke grunted a curse before swinging his opposite leg up to catch Trunks in the chin. He gasped when the saiyan didn't budge one inch; as a matter of fact, it didn't even look like the teen felt it at all.

Trunks glared at Sasuke before using his free hand to grab the teens foot caught under his chin before swinging the Uchiha into the ground. Sasuke barely had a second to twist his body to where he landed on his back, absorbing some of the impact but losing some of his breath. Sasuke quickly rolled to the side when Trunks’ fist slammed into the spot he was lying, feeling the ground vibrate around him and crack as he climbed to his feet. The Uchiha was visibly shocked, to say the least.

“Wh-What the hell  _ is  _ that kid?!” One of the students said in awe to his friend.

Sasuke’s fans wanted to cheer for their hero, but they also didn't want to rule the new kid out for some reason.

Iruka didn't know what to think either. Just how strong was this kid? What was he truly capable of?

Sasuke gaped at Trunks as the saiyan stood back up to his feet, rubbing the dirt from his hand. The boy grunted, ‘No, I’m not finished yet! I just need to step it up a notch.’ The Uchiha did a backflip to gain distance from the demi-saiyan, his hands flying through handsigns before bringing his hand up to his mouth, “ **Fire-Style: FireBall Jutsu!” ** A ball of flame erupted from Sasuke’s mouth, coming straight for the saiyan who radiated pure confidence.

Iruka and the rest of the class called for Trunks to get the hell out of the way. Iruka cursed himself for not mentioning that Jutsu’s were against the rules for spars. He wouldn't be able to move in time to grab Trunks.

The fireball passed over the spot where Trunks once stood, passing through the ring with a trail of ash, smoke, and scorched earth.

Sasuke’s eyes widened when he didn't see the new kids body. He looked over to the class to see some of the girls were crying and some of the boys staring in horror at what the raven-haired teen was capable of. 

“Sasuke,” Iruka growled, anger present in his voice, “What the  _ hell  _ did you just do?!” The man all but yelled at him.

Sasuke was at a loss of words, “I..I…” The Uchiha didn't want to kill him, he just wanted to push his abilities and,

“That's a pretty impressive technique.” The class gasped as they heard the voice. They looked up to see the new kid floating carelessly in the air, as fresh as a diamond. “That actually might have hurt if you hit me with it.” The saiyan smirked.

“No way, HE CAN FLY!” A student shouted in obvious shock as they beheld the saiyan suspended in the air with his arms crossed. The class stood mouth agape, unable to put words together.

Iruka breathed, “I-I can’t believe it.”

Sasuke was so stunned he didn't register Trunks level a hand at him and charge a weak non-lethal Ki blast, the yellow ball firing and detonating in front of him, the shockwave throwing him out of the ring and the concussion knocking him unconscious.

There was a moment of silence from the class, before Shikamaru pointed out, “He...He just beat  _ Sasuke... _ effortlessly!” 

Iruka rubbed his head before he smiled, ‘Guess we have a new Rookie of the year.’ He turned to his students as Trunks landed back to the ground gracefully. “Alright everyone, class dismissed. If you guys could please be so kind as to take Sasuke and Kiba to the infirmary, I would really appreciate it.”

A couple of random students dragged off Kiba while Sasuke’s fangirls carried off Sasuke. Sakura gave Trunks a look of wonder before walking off with the other girls. As Trunks turned to leave he felt a hand place itself on his shoulder, he looked back to see Iruka. “Not you, Trunks. I need to have a word with you.”

The two were back in the empty classroom, Iruka sat in his desk with Trunks out in front of him. “I must say, Trunks, I am very impressed with the way you handled yourself today. You managed to beat the #1 rookie, with little effort at that!”

The saiyan’s eyes widened, before he mentally slapped himself, ‘Crap! More spotlight. Just what I need...’ he thought. He put on a fake smile, “ _ Oh really... that’s great _ …” he said through gritted teeth.

Iruka nodded, understanding where the teen was coming from. “I do want to address to you that the students will be graduating from the academy tomorrow, which should be fine for you, because there wouldn't be much you could get out of a semester with us. Now, the jutsu that the students would need to know to graduate, is called the Clone Jutsu. I think the name speaks for itself. Would you have any Ki techniques that would let you do something like that?”

Trunks scratched his head as he thought back on the techniques Gohan taught him, “Clones, huh…” A lightbulb lit in his head, “Oh yeah, my master Gohan taught me a technique called multi-form, check this out.” 

The saiyan crossed his arms in an ‘X’ formation before he split apart in three different ways, three clones hopping out of his body. The clones bowed to the instructor before fading from existence. “For each clone that I make it divides my power. One clone divide’s my power in half, two clones divide’s my power by a third, and three clones divides my power by quarters.”

“Wow,” Iruka said with piqued interest. “We actually have a technique very similar to that. It’s called the ‘Shadow Clone Jutsu.” The Chunin stood out of his seat before doing a handsign. Two other clones of Iruka appeared to his side, before dissipating in a puff of smoke.

“Pretty cool.” Trunks said simply.

Iruka nodded. “But you should get home Trunks, you’re practically a genin already.”

“Thanks Iruka, I can’t wait.” The saiyan said as he moved to leave the building.

Little did the two know, a certain Uzumaki was peeking through a nearby window, observing their entire conversation.

XXX


	4. Graduation

A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or Naruto. They belong to the geniuses behind their works.

XXX

It was the day of the graduation exams. The son of Vegeta decided to wake up early, not to go to the Academy, but somewhere a little more important to him. He dressed out in something a bit more basic than what he wore yesterday, which was a normal black short sleeved T-shirt with blue jeans and a digital watch strapped to his right wrist. There were also a pair of black sneakers tied to his feet. 

After receiving a bit of money from the Hokage the previous day, Trunks took a detour to a local flower shop. He looked to the sign at the top of the store, ‘ **Yamanaka’s Flowers** ’, it read in red letters on a purple board.

Seeing no other shops around for variation, Trunks hesitantly stepped into the store. The door set off the jingle of a bell wired at the top of it. The inside of the shop smelled wonderful, with the calming, exotic, sweet smell of lavender, tsubaki, sumire, and even sakura lingering in the air. 

He noticed nobody was at the front desk to help him, and was prepared to call out, only for a young feminine voice to beat him to it.

“I’m coming, just hold on one second!” It came from behind a door behind the desk,the sound of objects shifting around and cursing could be heard by the saiyan who stood awkwardly in the center of the store. A young girl scrambled from out of the room, her head lowered into fixing her hair back into the long blonde ponytail that it once was. “Sorry about that, welcome to Yamanaka’s Flow-” Her head rose and she gasped when she saw who it was. Out of nervousness, she quickly let out, “Oh, um, hi Trunks.” She dusted some of the purple and pink petals that clung to her white apron, trying her best to look presentable even though she was dressed in her work clothes and her face was as red as a cherry.

“Uh hi, wait, do I know you?” Trunks asked puzzledly. He wanted to be polite, but he had no idea who this girl was.

“Y-you don’t know me, my name’s Ino, Ino Yamanaka. I’m in your class at the Academy.” She quickly said. “Was there anything I could help you with?”

“Yeah, I was needing to pick up some flowers for my-, for someone important. I just don’t know which ones I should get.” He didn’t feel it necessary to tell her who he was buying flowers for exactly.

Ino nodded with a smile, “Of course I can help with that.” She stepped from behind the counter to lead Trunks outside where they grew the flowers. Trunks didn’t  _ exactly  _ notice it, but Ino’s face grew darker shades of red the closer she got to him. ‘Keep it together Ino, KEEP IT TOGETHER!’ She was screaming in her head.

When the two got outside, Trunks was introduced to a yard full of colorful flowers. He wouldn’t know which one a woman would like, so he was left rather confused. Though Ino already picked up on this.

The Yamanaka scratched the bottom of her chin in a thinking manner as she looked over the flowers. “Let’s see,” She walked over to a patch of violet colored ones, and picked them, “Some Sumire,” The girl strolled over to a pink patch, “A batch of Momo,” She picked them and moved to a purple colored batch, “and some Kosumosu should be perfect!” She bundled the flowers up and held them to Trunks in a way to get his opinion.

“They look great, thanks!”

“Good, now follow me.” She brought the saiyan over to the counter where she went back through the door she went through earlier, obviously to wrap the flowers. She came back up to the register, “That’ll be...150 ryo.” She double-checked the price.

The saiyan reached into his pocket and pulled out the small wad of bills that the Hokage gave him. After counting them he frowned, “I’m sorry, the Hokage only gave me 100 ryo.”

Ino shrugged, “It’s cool, I’ll just take that and take the heat from my parents later.”

Trunks hesitated, “Wait, you don't have to-”

The blonde put up her hand to silence him, “I said it’s cool, I promise. As if they're going to do anything besides lecture me for 10 minutes.” She said jokingly even though it was true.

The saiyan laid the money on the table, “Thanks, I owe you one.” He took the flowers and headed out the door.

“See you in class!” She called after him. As he left, Ino sighed dreamily and put her head on her hands. She then grunted angrily, “Damn, I probably could have found  _ another  _ way to make him pay without money.” Her being the hopeless romantic that she was, she couldn’t help but think she could sucker him into a date somehow.

While Trunks was outside, he looked both ways to make sure no one could see him, before lifting off into the sky.

The demi-saiyan landed in front of the Konoha hospital, taking care to walk through the front doors and into the main hall that held the front desk. The lavender-haired teen strolled over to the desk that was being managed by two women.

One of the women looked up and noticed him, giving the saiyan an  _ extremely  _ off putting frown.

“Excuse me, I was wondering if I could see-”

The nurse rudely cut him off, “Visiting hours aren’t until later.”

“But I was-”

“I just told you visiting hours aren’t until  _ later _ . Get out.”

“Now that’s no way to treat a visitor.” A silky voice chimed in, followed by the sound of approaching footsteps. Trunks turned behind him and the nurse gasped when she saw who it was. Kakashi. “A boy tries to see his debilitated mother and you have the gall to turn him away? How sad.”

The nurse’s face turned red from a mixture of embarrassment and a hint of fear. She stuttered, “K-K-Kakashi, I-I didn’t mean to- I mean I was jus-”

“I wonder what Lord Hokage’s opinion of that would be. Surely it would be of no effort on his part to have you fired, no questions asked.”

The nurse quickly waved her hands in an attempt to coax him out of getting her fired, “Oh no, there’s no need for that. The room number is 2C, just walk right through.” She said with an embarrassed laugh.

Kakashi gave an eye smile, “Thank you.” He gave a nod to Trunks to have the saiyan follow after him. With a relieved smile Trunks walked after him.

As the two walked through the halls, Trunks looked up to the older man next to him, “Thanks for helping me out back there, I really appreciate it.”

The copy-ninja gave him a side glance, “Don’t sweat it, no need to thank me.” Trunks nodded. Kakashi changed topics “So, I heard you beat Sasuke on your first day.”

The saiyan nodded, “Yeah, everyone makes such a big deal out of it. If I knew he was the strongest in class I would have let him beat me.”

Kakashi raised a visible eyebrow, “And why is that?”

Trunks shrugged, “The less attention on me the better.”

“Understandable.”

The two came up to a door that had ‘2C’ engraved on a tag attached to it. There was a window that allowed easy access view into the room for people in the hall, although the curtains were shut so Trunks couldn’t see in.

Kakashi leaned back against the wall in the hall, showing that he was going to let Trunks go in alone. The saiyan turned the doorknob, opening the door quietly as to not wake his mother if she was back conscious. Trunks stepped inside to see his mother in a similar condition to what she was in for the last few days. 

Bulma was lying in bed under the covers with a breather still attached to her mouth. Her eyes were still tightly shut and her chest rose with each pulse of the machine supplying her body with oxygen. The woman’s long blue hair was out of its ponytail and sprawled around her head.

The demi-saiyan hesitantly walked up to her form, “Hey mom, I got you some flowers.” He spoke to her, receiving no response. The saiyan set the flowers inside of a vase that contained a fake flower already inside of it. The vase was conveniently already set near a window with sunlight.

Trunks grabbed a chair and pulled it up next to the bed, sitting down in it, “I figured you would like them, a girl helped me pick them out, and it’s not like you got to see that many of them back home.” He still didn’t get a response, but that didn’t stop him from continuing.

“You should really get a look at the place we’re at, it’s really nice. Sure it’s not the same technologically as we had back home, but it’s not all bad. And you’ll never get this, but this place is full of ninja, and I get to be one too!” Bulma still didn’t move a muscle, making Trunks sigh. He looked at his digital watch and noticed it said ‘7:47’ meaning he only had about thirteen minutes to get to class. He stood up, ‘Well mom, I hope you wake up soon, so you can try to find out what went wrong with the Time Machine. I have to get to class now, I’ll stop by later, love you.” He gave her a peck on the cheek before heading out the room.

Upon entering the hallway, Trunks noticed Kakashi was already gone. This made the saiyan question why, but he knew had to get a move on to the academy so he left the building.

XXX

As Trunks approached the front door to the Academy, he found things to be a lot similar to how they were yesterday, as in, most students were up out of their seats conversing with one another, some sitting  _ on  _ the tables instead of in their seats, except for a select few, being Naruto (who looked extremely happy by the way), a very timid girl with violet eyes who kept taking nervous glances at Naruto, Sasuke (who was in a rather sour mood for someone who felt they would be graduating), and a boy with small black shades with a high collar jacket who was sitting idly on his own. When Trunks took his first few steps into the class, he found himself even more nervous with the fact that he didn’t have Iruka next to him, and the fact that the room went dead silent when he walked in made the situation 10x worse.

The force of about 30 pairs of eyeballs staring right at him made the saiyan want to fly through the roof. Literally. Lucky for him, Iruka and another silver-haired man walked through a door in the room, chatting about something irrelevant to the class.

Iruka cleared his throat, “Alright class, everyone take a seat. You all know what today i-” He turned to see Trunks standing awkwardly by the door, “Ah Trunks, take a seat. No need to be shy, take a seat anywhere you’d like.”

That’s when Naruto shot up to get Trunks attention, “Hey Trunks, over here, sit here dude!” He was pointing to the seat to the right of him. Most of the class rolled their eyes, thinking the annoying blonde would drive the new kid to stay away from him.

They were surprised to see Trunks smile and happily take the seat next to the class.

Ino and Sakura glared bloody murder at the blonde, ‘Damn you Naruto!’ They screamed in their heads.

The blonde boy was rather giddy, squirming in his seat, a huge smile plastered on his face, and he found it overall  _ extremely  _ difficult to sit still. Trunks turned to the blonde, obviously concerned about him, “Uh, are you ok Naruto?”

The blonde didn’t even turn his way, too happy for his own good, “Ohwhomeyeahneverbetter!” He shot out extremely fast.

Iruka continued, holding up a clipboard, “So, we will now proceed with the final exam. When your name is called, you will advance into the testing room. The final test will be on, The Bunshin Jutsu.”

At this Naruto’s smile stretched ear-to-ear, quite literally at that. The energy he gave off made it look like he was ready to explode.

Iruka called the first student up, him and Mizuki leading him into the room. As time went by and a few students went, Trunks’ turn was up and he was sent into the testing room.

When he walked through the door he noticed that it was a mostly empty room aside from the small desk at the front of the room. At the desk sat Iruka and the other man from earlier. The scarred man motioned the demi-saiyan over, “Trunks, I would like to introduce you to Mizuki, he’s a close friend of mine and is another teacher here at the school.”

Mizuki smiled at the saiyan and held his hand out, “Nice to meet you Trunks-Kun.”

Trunks hesitated for a moment. Something in his instincts didn’t sit well with that man’s smile. Perhaps it was survival instinct, something he picked up from experiences with bad survivors. That smile was obviously a mask for much malice and ill intent. Though the saiyan knew this. He still took Mizuki’s hand and shook it to avoid being rude. “Nice to meet you too Mizuki-san.”

‘I need to keep an eye out for this guy.’

Iruka continued, leaning back in the chair to make himself comfortable, “Alright Trunks, all you have to do is the technique you showed me yesterday, and you become a genin.”

The saiyan, seeing that coming, crossed his arms and squatted, two copies of him split apart in two different ways, before standing up side by side to the original.

Mizuki was impressed, he turned to Iruka, “Wow! I guess you weren’t lying about him using Ki, and he even has a technique similar to clone jutsu.”

Iruka smirked smugly, “I told you so.”

Mizuki turned to Trunks, “So are you able to attack with those clones?”

Trunks nodded, “Sure am, but this is mainly used for training since it divides my power by however many I make.”

The silver-haired man nodded, “Well Iruka, I say he passes, do you?”

“Of course. Trunks, come take your headband. You are now a genin of Konohagakure.”

Trunks smiled, and took his headband, which was the same cloth that other shinobi wore with a silver plate at the front, a design of the leaf symbol etched in the metal. The saiyan gave a respectful bow, “Thank you Iruka-sensei.”

The scarred man waved him off, “Don’t sweat it Trunks, it was a pleasure having you. Although our time together was short I must admit!” Iruka laughed.

Trunks went back to the classroom to wait out the rest of the tests. He noticed a pink-haired girl kept ogling at him whenever he turned his back. The saiyan didn’t know whether to feel uncomfortable, offended, or even flattered at the attention, so he settled on ignoring it. He took the headband, considering tying it around his head where it belonged, but instead tied it around his right bicep.

More and more students began finishing their exams, almost pushing Naruto to the brink of a suspense related coma.

“Naruto, you’re up.” Iruka called.

An explosion of joy erupted from the blonde who almost hit the ceiling of the room. “Woohoo! It’s about time!” Naruto ran into the testing room in an orange blur.

‘G-Good luck Naruto-kun.’ Hinata wished with a small smile.

The blonde stood in front of his sensei and Mizuki, a look of utmost confidence clear on his features.

“Alright Naruto, you know the drill. Make at least two functional clones and you pass.”

“Actually Iruka-Sensei, I couldn’t learn the Bunshin Jutsu, but I found an even better Jutsu that you’ll  _ have  _ to pass me for knowing!”

Iruka shook his head disappointedly, “Naruto you know you can’t just,”

“ ** _Kage _ ** **Bunshin no Jutsu!”** Iruka and Mizuki’s eyes widened at the sight of over  _ ten  _ clones filling the space behind Naruto, all with the blondes boys signature grin splitting their cheeks.

The two chunin gaped with open mouths over the Uzumaki’s work. Iruka managed to stutter out, “N-Naruto, h-how did you manage to-, you listened in on my conversation with Trunks yesterday, didn’t you!” Anger was present in the man’s voice, completed with veins popping up around his forehead.

Naruto scratched the back of his head accompanied with a nervous laugh, “Heheh, yeah. What can I say I couldn’t help myself.”

Iruka let out a sigh, before he smiled, “Well Naruto, you managed to perform a jutsu  _ above  _ your skill level, I think it’s undeniable that you’ve earned this headband. Congratulations!” The blondes blue eyes widened in a mixture of overjoy and a hint of disbelief. Tears built up in the blondes eyes as he dispersed the jutsu, and took his first steps towards the table. He stopped when Mizuki spoke up.

“W-wait a minute Iruka, he didn’t actually do the jutsu that he was assigned, meaning he didn’t fulfill the requirements to pass the test.” Naruto’s face became downcast, and his world felt as if it would come crashing down. Was there no hope left for him?

Iruka gave the man a deadpan look, “Seriously Mizuki, Naruto learned a jutsu that was high Chunin level and beyond. And on top of that he made  _ ten  _ shadow clones which is unheard of! If anyone deserves to pass, it’s him.” Naruto’s spirit came right back up.

Mizuki nodded as Naruto took a headband. He was calm on the outside, but on the inside he was  _ furious. _ ‘Damn it! Now my plans ruined. No, actually, I can still work this to my advantage somehow.’ He managed to tell himself.

XXXX

The students were all outside, showing off their headbands to their parents and friends. Naruto got the headband part, but he still found himself on the swingset outside of the academy, alone. He was one step closer to his dream, but he had no one to celebrate that with. Nobody cared.

Trunks struggled to push through the crowd of people who were gathered  _ right  _ in front of the academy door. Actually, it wasn’t so much struggling to get  _ through  _ them that was the issue, it was struggling to get through without pushing someone into the ground. When he got through the crowd the saiyan noticed the Naruto sitting on the swingset all by himself. The saiyan wondered why, seeing as the blonde was so friendly he had to be well liked. Right?

Naruto looked up to see Trunks standing in front of him. The blonde also took notice of Trunks headband on his arm, “Oh, hey Trunks. I guess it’s not surprising Iruka-sensei let you pass, huh.”

Trunks nodded and shrugged, “Yeah, there was nothing to it. To be honest if becoming a ninja is this easy I could have made it when I was six.”

Naruto scoffed, “It only took me three tries.” He mumbled.

“What?” Trunks asked even though he head the blonde clearly.

Naruto quickly waved him off, “Nothing. Forget I said that.” He changed the subject to something along the lines of general chatter.

Two girls scowled at the boys from a distance. “Hmph, it’s  _ those  _ two. Looks like they actually managed to graduate.” One of the girls voiced.

The other girl shook her head, “What were they thinking making them ninjas. I mean, that’s the kid from... _ that  _ night, and the other kids the nine-”

“Shut up! We’re not supposed to speak of that remember.”

The boys conversation managed to steer towards Naruto’s dream, “And when I do become Hokage, everyone in this village is gonna look up to me. They’re gonna acknowledge and respect me for who I am.” The blonde said as he adjusted his headband around his forehead.

Trunks knew that Hokage was an important position, but he didn’t know how much it could mean to people. Though, something the blonde said about his past did unsettle the saiyan, “But did you ever learn why they treat you the way they do in the first place?”

Naruto flinched before his head lowered. “I don’t know. They’ve treated me like garbage my  _ entire, life _ . I never did anything to’em.” A grin slowly crossed his features, barely visible to Trunks through the shadow of Naruto’s face. “But that’s just gonna make it all the sweeter when I become Hokage.”

The saiyan couldn’t lie, the kid had determination; and a way with words to boot. Something about the way he talked just made you want to take his side and believe in him, which Trunks did. A beeping came from the Brief boy’s watch. When he looked at it he saw the yellow numbers said ‘5:20’. He turned around, “Well Naruto, I need to go see my mom. I’ll catch you later ok.”

“See you later Trunks!” The saiyan walked off with a wave. Naruto sighed before feeling someone’s presence again near him, he looked up to see Mizuki perched up on the tree branch next to him.

XXX

The two were sitting on top of a building roof that gave a decent view of the village.

“So, Naruto, tell me, what’s your goal as a shinobi? What drive’s you to be one?” Mizuki asked the blonde sitting next to him.

“My goal...is to be Hokage. That way everyone will respect and look up to me.”

Mizuki raised an eyebrow, “Hokage huh? That’s a pretty big goal, but one worth aspiring after. But you know, to be Hokage you have to know an insane amount of jutsu, and be the strongest person within the village.”

Naruto nodded, “Yeah, I know. But that’s why I’m never gonna stop training and getting stronger. Nothing’s gonna hold me back!”

Mizuki chuckled, “I love your spirit Naruto, and that’s why I want to help you achieve your dream.”

“Really?” Naruto’s eyes brightened.

“Yep. And I know just the way for you to do it.”

XXX

The saiyan was once again in the hospital, making his way to Bulma’s room. Angry glares were cast his way every which way he looked as he walked. One man who was walking with crutches and with bandages covering up his face, arms, and torso cast a particularly nasty glare at the son of Vegeta. It was obvious why.

Trunks could understand the people’s anger towards him, seeing as they got injured in his arrival.  _ Seriously  _ injured. But it’s not like it was his intention for that to happen.

As he turned the knob to Bulma’s door, he froze as he overheard two shinobi’s conversation in the hallway. 

“ _ Hey, what is it Kokoro?” _

_ “It’s Naruto, he’s just stolen the scroll of sealing!” _

_ “What!?” _

_ “Yeah, Lord Hokage’s just put out a mass search for him.” _

_ “Damn, let’s go!” _

The ninja’s scurried out of the building.

‘Naruto? Steal?’ Trunks already knew the blonde was a bit of a troublemaker, but he shouldn’t have gone this far. He better get out there and stop him before he got himself in irredeemably big trouble.

XXX

The demi-saiyan hovered in the skies above Konoha, feeling out for Naruto’s energy. It was just his luck that he felt for it during the spars the other day or he wouldn’t have had anything to go on. Trunks sensed his friend’s Ki out in the forests. Along with Iruka’s and Mizuki’s...the latter of whom was giving off an extremely foul and hostile Ki.

Trunks cursed, “I knew there was something off about that guy!” He hurriedly blasted off in the direction of their energy.

“Time to die Naruto!” Mizuki shouted as he threw his giant shuriken at Naruto who scrambled away for his life. Like the blades of a helicopter the blades chopped through the air at a speed and velocity that would split Naruto in half if it connected.

Iruka was pinned and injured against a tree by a surprise kunai barrage, “NARUTO GET DOWN!!!” Iruka screamed.

The blonde hit the deck bracing himself for the end to come.

A yellow ball of light smashed into the shuriken, deflecting it and sending it off to the trees in a flurry of sparks.

‘What?!’ was the collective thoughts of the spectators. They didn’t expect to see a familiar lavender haired saiyan to down gracefully in front of Naruto, making Mizuki grin.

“Ah, Trunks-kun. I wouldn’t have expected to see you pop up out of...nowhere. But then again it seems you have a knack for that, don’t you?”

The demi-saiyan shrugged, “I suppose that’s true. But what’s going on here? I get the feeling that I’m intruding on something big.” His voice dripping with obvious sarcasm.

“Well, now that you mention it, I was just getting rid of the village wretch.”

Trunks raised an eyebrow, “Seems a little harsh for someone who’s only pulled a few pranks.”

Mizuki shook his head with a smirk, “Oh no Trunks, it’s a bit more than that. You see the kid standing behind you is literally a  _ monster _ .”

Naruto’s face twisted from the mentioning of that word. Iruka growled, “Mizuki stop it.”

The man shrugged innocently, “What? I’m just saying it how it is. But Trunks, considering you’re new to this village I think you should learn a bit of history. You should listen to this too Naruto.”

Iruka shouted, “Mizuki don’t!

Mizuki ignored him, "Twelve years ago there was a beast that attacked the hidden leaf village. This beast was known as the Nine Tailed Fox. The demon was too powerful for even the 4th Hokage to stop. So he only had one choice. To Seal it into the body of a newborn baby.” Naruto's eyes widened with realization. "And that baby-" Mizuki continued.

“Was Naruto.” Trunks finished. His expression was stoic.

Naruto stared at the ground in disbelief. “No...No…”

"So don't you get it now Naruto.  _ You're  _ the nine tailed fox demon that nearly destroyed our village and killed Iruka's parents!" Mizuki then looked to Trunks. "And don't  _ you _ get it Trunks. This is why that little monster needs to die." Trunks took a glance back at Naruto, who looked ready to cross a despair related breakdown, before turning back to Mizuki.

“That’s it? He’s a monster because of  _ that _ ? If you ask me, he’s doing you all a pretty big favor carrying around something like that.” Trunks narrowed his eyes, “And between you and me, if that’s what you people call a monster, then I would hate for you to meet demons.” The faces of Androids #17 and #18 flashed through his eyes.

Mizuki growled and pulled his last remaining shuriken, “Don’t you talk down on me you little punk!” He threw the blade that shot straight for the demi-saiyan, who didn’t look the slightest bit fazed.

“Trunks, get down!” Iruka yelled as he struggled to pick himself up from his position. His body was too badly injured from Mizuki’s attack. But if he didn’t get in there, Trunks was done for.

The shuriken went from horizontal to vertical in its travel making Trunks smirk and pivot on his right leg, effortlessly twisting his body to dodge the shuriken that sailed harmlessly by.

Iruka and Naruto gasped. Mizuki growled, ‘How the hell did that bastard just-!’ He vigorously shook his head before pulling two kunai from his holster, leaping from the tree and charging at Trunks.

The saiyan fazed out from Mizuki’s view, before appearing in front of him and putting his fist so far deep into the man’s stomach one could see the bulge on the other side.

Mizuki spit up a mouth full of blood and bile and was sent flying in the opposite direction, skidding along the forest floor as he landed.

Trunks held his hand out at Mizuki, charging his ki as the man began to stand back up.

“Trunks wait!” Naruto got up next to the saiyan, stopping his attack. Trunks gave the blonde a questionable look in response.

“I wanna test out the jutsu I learned from the scroll. You mind?”

Trunks took a few steps back, “Go for it.”

Iruka was also curious as to what the blonde was planning. Was he really capable of learning a jutsu from the scroll of sealing? A scroll that contained high chunin level jutsu and  _ beyond _ ? Actually, now that he thought about it, he did already learn Shadow Clone Jutsu. What else was he capable of?

Naruto’s hands shifted through handsigns, before he took a deep breath, “ **Wind Release: Air Bullets!” ** A dozen pocket sized balls of wind fired from Naruto’s mouth and shot at Mizuki who was just climbing to back his feet. 

‘WHAT THE HELL!?’ He screamed before the balls each slammed into him. Not only did each ball possess enough force to hit him with the strength of ten men, but they would shred the cloth on his clothes as well. The first ball knocked him off his feet, but he kept getting blasted with each ball one after the other which sent him like a train into the nearest tree, cracking the bark and making him slide to the ground in a heap.

Iruka’s mouth was hanging open in a broken fashion, ‘I-Impossible! That’s a Jonin level technique at  _ least  _ and he learned it in a few hours!?’

“That was cool!” Trunks told Naruto who scratched the back of his head nervously.

“Hehe, to be honest I think I overdid it a little.” The jinchuuriki took in Mizuki’s condition. He had large cuts and bruises all over the visible flesh on his body, and most of his clothes were shredded. He wasn’t 100% unconscious though, surprisingly.

Iruka chuckled, “Well Naruto, as always you never fail to surprise me. You’ve learned jutsu that’s well out of your ninja rank, in only a few hours at that!”

“Thanks Iruka-sensei, but is it true? Am I...really a monster?”

Trunks cut in, “No, you’re not. You hold the burden of carrying a monster that could destroy your village. If anything, that makes you a hero in my book.”

“Trunks is right,” Iruka nodded, “Despite what anyone else says you’re not the Kyuubi, you’re its jailer. You keep  _ that  _ monster from coming out and destroying us all, thus doing a greater service to the village than any shinobi could.”

Naruto blushed as a smile slipped across his face. Groans came from Mizuki as he twitched and spasmed in his spot. Naruto’s brow furrowed as he turned to Iruka, “So what are we gonna do about hi-”

Trunks’ hand flashed up and blasted a Ki blast at Mizuki, the blast connecting and erupting in a shockwave and explosion, making Naruto and Iruka shield their eyes from the rocks and dust. 

Iruka shakily moved his arms from his eyes as the explosion died down, “T-Trunks, what did you...” He looked to see a crater and a small bit of black ash where Mizuki once was. The tree and some of the land behind him was wiped out as well.

Naruto was horrified, “Trunks, why?”

“He was evil. It didn’t make much sense to leave him alive. If you arrested him, he could’ve tried something later on.” Trunks rationalized.

“It’s still the job of a grown up to handle these situations, Trunks. It wasn’t your call when he was already incapacitated.” Iruka said as he glanced at the demi-saiyan.

Trunks jerked, “Y-you’re right, I’m sorry Iruka.”

The scarred chunin sighed before taking another glance at the scarred earth that Mizuki became apart of, “Well, he was a traitor to the village, so he was more than likely going to be executed anyway. Don’t let it eat you up Trunks.” He changed the subject, “So, I think, how about we return this scroll, and I treat you boys to some ramen?”

Naruto’s face brightened, “Sounds like a great idea to me! What about you Trunks?” It was then that the saiyans stomach growled, making him blush and let out a nervous laugh, “I’ll take that as a yes! Let’s go Iruka-sensei!” 

The hyperactive blonde ran off through the forest, making Iruka let out a, “Hey wait up Naruto!” Before he was chased by the chunin and Trunks.

Hiruzen was sitting in his office, having watched the entire incident from within his office from his crystal ball. He chuckled, “Well done boys. Well done.”

An anbu rushed into his office, “Lord Hokage, we still can’t find Naruto!”

The Hokage waved a dismissive hand, "Call off the search. Everything is going to be fine.” Hiruzen then voiced in his head, ‘Now I should get a search party into the woods to clean up Mizuki’s remains. But I do wonder, just what could that boy have gone through to give him such a do or die attitude, yet be so kind hearted towards others?” Hiruzen would have to find out more about the boys past. And also get him assigned to a jounin. He would take care of that tomorrow.

XXX

A/N: Alright I’m ending the chapter here. Now, I decided to have Naruto learn shadow clone jutsu early, that way he could use the scroll of sealing to learn another jutsu. I figured Air Bullets would be a good one but I wasn’t even sure if that jutsu would be in the scroll of sealing. Oh well, what’s done is done.

I also expect some of you to be surprised that Trunks just blasted Mizuki in cold blood, but you have to understand, Trunks is NOT Goku or Gohan. When it comes to evil doers he is MUCH more pragmatic. Meaning you can expect him to be less a lot less merciful towards the bad guys in this fic.

Anyways, that is all I have to say for this A/N, please Review and Follow if you enjoy this fic!   
  



	5. Team 7

XXX

_ Trunks found himself standing amongst the ruins of a destroyed city. Thunderclouds turned the sky’s a haunting black with the pouring rain that soaked the buildings and streets. The saiyan glanced all around him, desperately trying to see just where he was. He found himself unable to fly, which shocked him, but he settled on traveling the old fashioned way; with his feet. _

_ ‘Wh-Where am I?’ He looked around. The buildings were all the ones he knew from back home, but that couldn’t be possible. He was possibly the furthest a being could get from ‘home’. So why did he find himself once again roaming the streets that he was so accustomed to his entire life. The rain soaking his hair turned it from a light lavender to purple, and caused it to clump together in locks that clung to his face. _

_ Trunks gasped as a flash of thunder illuminated the streets, just enough for him to get a better view of his surroundings. Under the rubble from buildings, either in pieces, or burned to charred pieces of meat, were fresh corpses. There were the bodies of men, women, and even children lying scattered across the streets in a gruesome fashion. The rain mixing in with their blood and causing the red liquid to pool out further than was natural. It was then that Trunks looked down at his feet to see that he was standing in a puddle of red. The blood having mixed together from all bodies in the surrounding area. How many different bodies life liquid could he have been standing in? _

_ Tears streamed down the teens face accompanied by the rain, “No...no...I-I shouldn’t be here. Th-This shouldn’t be happening!” Trunks voice came off as an echo, possibly from the destroyed ruins of buildings reverberating his voice. He continued walking, each flash of lighting forcing him to view the aftermath of the atrocity that took place earlier before. The street he walked down was straight and narrow, and seemed to stretch on for miles. It felt like he was was traversing a road through hell. Crackles from thunder gave off a haunting echo that sounded eerily like the cries of the innocent in Trunks ears. _

_ Why did this have to happen? How could someone just thrive off the pain and suffering of others for absolutely no reason. To spare no one, not even children. And there wasn’t a damn thing that could be done to stop it.  _

_ It just wasn’t fair. _

_ After walking for what had to be miles the saiyan finally approached a turn left only street. Or, it was made that way because of the collapsed skyscraper that filled the opposite street. When he turned the street he felt his world almost collapse. In the distance, in a puddle of blood run water, was his master Gohan, lying face down surrounded by debris. Against his bodies wishes he began to proceed to his master’s corpse. _

_ His heart grew heavier the more he stared over his best friends form. He choked out, “Gohan, no. What did they do to you?” He dropped to his knees and cradled his big brother’s lifeless body. He cried, and cried. He found himself powerless, and unable to turn super saiyan like last time. Why he was even reliving this situation hadn’t crossed his mind; he could only think of the hurt. _

_ It was then that the splashes of footsteps in the water caught his attention. He slowly turned his head only for his eyes to widen in horror.  _

_ Both of his master’s killers were standing right behind him, sinister smirks on their faces. _

_ Trunks let go of his master before jumping to his feet, snapping into a fighting stance. The two Androids chuckled at him, prompting Trunks to run at them in blind fury. #17 slammed his fist into Trunks stomach, making the saiyan spit up blood before #18 decked him with a punch to the temple that blasted him through the ruins of a building. _

_ The saiyan lay bloodied and lightheaded as the rain drizzled down his face. Blood caked his hair from a gash in the side of his head, and blood trailed down his mouth. Androids #17 and #18 fazed to either side of him, still sporting their smirks. Trunks accepted his fate as #17 brought his foot over his head, and stomped down. _

The saiyan practically threw himself out of bed. He was out of breath and drenched in sweat. He felt his face before taking a deep breath in relief. It was only a dream. He crashed back down into his bed and stared up at the ceiling. 

If only it could be so easy, to leave the place that’s been hell for him his entire life and be level headed. But no, the nightmares still haunt him. He felt a guilt like no other as he thought of all the people back home whom he and his mother left behind. His mother's machine was supposed to be a last beacon of hope for them, but it just blew up in the creators faces. Literally. What if his mother couldn't build another machine? What if they just royally screwed all those left back in their dimension? Were all those people just doomed to die? To sit like ducks for their demise like billions before them?

The thoughts infuriated the saiyan. His eyes flashed from blue to teal with his rising emotions, only for him to stop and take a deep breath, ‘No. We'll find a way. Those people won't die in vain. I swear it. I'll find a way to destroy the androids and bring peace back to the world. Gohan wouldn't give up on it, and he wouldn't want me to either.’ No matter how absurd the odds seemed, he still had to keep hope alive. After all, that was all that drove him.

He turned to his clock next to him, flipping the alarm switch to off before it started spazzing out. He looked at the date and saw that it was, in fact, the day of Orientation; or so Iruka told him. It was the day he was supposed to be assigned a team for his shinobi career. It’d only been five days since he graduated the Academy and killed Mizuki. Surprisingly, those five days were a bit of a blur to him seeing as his schedule consisted of visiting Bulma in the hospital, and training with his sword out in the forests. Occasionally, he would venture into the village; only to have some random girl from the Academy try and make passes at him, or be glared at by some random bystanders. Because of that he would try to avoid other villagers whenever possible.

The saiyan saw the time said ‘7:20’, and hopped out of bed to get ready. He showered and brushed his teeth, got dressed in an outfit that consisted of a blue short sleeved T-shirt with a white capsule corp. logo printed on the front, gray sweatpants, and blue boots; then ate half a box of cereal in one sitting. Before leaving he tied his hitai-ate around his right bicep.

On his way to the Academy building he passed by the Ramen shop that Iruka treated him and Naruto to the night of graduation. Boy, was that an event.

_ Iruka and the entire crew working at Ichiraku Ramen stared in horror at the eating machines known as Naruto Uzumaki and Trunks Briefs. The two boys took it upon themselves to have an eating competition of sorts that would possibly leave Iruka in debt, and possibly clean the Ramen shop out of all inventory.  _

_ The chunin thought he’d seen it all when it came to Naruto’s eating habits, but Trunks was almost  _ ** _worse_ ** _ ! Naruto had at least six good stacks of bowls lined up around him while Trunks was ahead by at least two stacks. Iruka and Teuchi stared back and forth between one another, knowing that they both would be financially screwed by the time those boys finished. _

The demi-saiyan chuckled. His mother did say that his father was known to go through thousands of zeni worth of groceries in a month, on his own. Had he been thinking he would have warned Iruka, but hey, live and learn.

He stepped inside the Academy building to see things as they normally were, students up and chatting with one another, obvious excitement over getting to officially begin their shinobi careers no doubt. The teen saw a booth that sat Naruto along with a wide gap of space that sat Sasuke. The blonde noticed Trunks and waved his attention.

Trunks sat down next to his friend and the two fist bumped. He turned to see Sasuke pass him a side glare, but turned away in a snobbish manner. It made Trunks question what he did wrong, which Naruto noticed.

“Ah don’t pay attention to Sasuke-teme, he’s just a stuck up snob.” 

Made sense to Trunks. It’s not his fault he beat Sasuke in a sparring match that the Uchiha even tried to  _ cheat  _ in. Oh well, what could you do.

It was then that the door’s barged opened to Ino and Sakura, apparently having raced all the way to the Academy as judged by their labored breathing and sweaty faces.

The blonde said smugly to Sakura, “Heh, looks like I win, Forehead!”

Sakura said just as smugly to her rival, “What are you talking about, my foot was  _ obviously  _ a fraction of an inch ahead!”

Trunks noticed Naruto’s head was turned almost completely around to get a look at the girls by the door. His cheeks were stained red in a strong blush and his mouth was hanging open, “Sakura…” He moaned. Trunks followed the blondes eyes to see that he was staring directly at the pinkette.

Sakura and Ino’s heads both turned Naruto’s way, making Uzumaki blush even further. ‘Heh, guess she does like me.’

The two girls looked at the space that sat the dobe of their class, and noticed that right next to him sat Trunks, an empty space, and  _ then  _ Sasuke. How lucky could a girl get! Sakura and Ino traded fierce glares before rushing over in another race.

The fact that two girls were running his way made Naruto leap up in his seat in excitement, “Hey Sakura-cha-” Sakura threw Naruto out of his seat, effectively shocking Trunks at the girls hostility.

Surprisingly for him, the pinkette was rather timid when she spoke to him, “Morning Trunks, do you mind if I sit next to you?”

Ino immediately cut in, shoving Sakura to the side, “Move it Forehead,  _ I’m  _ sitting next to Trunks and Sasuke!”

“ _ I _ was here first!” Sakura shot back.

“ _ I  _ walked inside the classroom first, everyone saw it!”

Now more girls started to gather around the duo.

“ _ Actually, I _ was here first. So I should get to sit with Trunks and Sasuke.”

“What are you guys talking about, I was here before any of you,  _ I’m  _ sitting next to them.”

‘How embarrassing.’ Sasuke thought. If there was one semi-positive thing about this, at least 50% of the unnecessary attention was taken away from him. He continued brooding.

This pointlessness of the situation was beginning to irritate the saiyan. ‘This...is embarrassing.’ Trunks groaned in his head.

XXX

From inside the Hokage’s office, a group of would be leader Jonin and the Hokage himself were observing the classroom of genin through the crystal ball. 

“It would appear, that most of the girls are more interested in romance than anything else. What a shame.” Hiruzen spoke out loud, the Jonin all agreeing.

The ball then showed Trunks, who was looking less than impressed at all of the girls fawning over him than some would expect. 

Asuma spoke up, “So, that’s the visitor? He doesn’t look like much to me.”

“But he did manage to kill Mizuki-teme, or so I’ve heard.” Kurenai answered him.

The Hokage nodded, confirming Kurenai’s statement. “It’s true. According to Iruka, Trunks managed to effortlessly neutralize a high ranking Chunin.”

“Hm, it really makes me wonder just what he’s capable of.” Kakashi voiced out loud. “Where his limits lie.”

Hiruzen turned to him, “And it’s for that reason that I am sticking him on your team, especially seeing as you’ve had the most interaction with him than any other Jonin present.”

Kakashi nodded. “Considering the full potential of his Ki abilities are unknown, I do want to take some one on one time with him so I can see if there’s a way to…  _ neutralize  _ him if he became a threat.”

“Understood. Just make sure you spend a fair amount of time with your other students as well.” Hiruzen asked more than ordered.

They then got a view of Sasuke.

“That is the sole survivor of the Uchiha massacre, correct?” Kurenai asked Hiruzen, receiving a nod.

The Hokage turned to Kakashi. “Kakashi, I also want you to take charge of Sasuke-kun. For obvious reasons.” 

“I figured as such.” Kakashi nodded.

XXX

The class’ attention shifted to Iruka when he entered the door of the classroom. Sakura took the distraction as an opportunity to shove through Ino and take the seat in between Trunks and Sasuke. She stuck her tongue out at Ino and the rest of the girls.

If looks could kill...

“Alright everyone, take a seat.” Iruka started. “As of today you are all ninja’s. To get here you have faced difficult challenges and hardships. But that’s nothing, what comes next will be far more difficult. Every single one of you are now Genin, beginner-level ninja. All Genin will be grouped together in a three-member squad, with the exception of one four member squad. Each squad will be led by a Jonin, an elite ninja.”

Sakura and Ino’s eyes widened at the mentioning of squad members. Ino’s smirked down at Sakura, who was just one piew below her, “Heh, a three man squad. I wonder which one of us is gonna get Sasuke or Trunks on their team.”

“How much you wanna bet I’ll get both of them.” Sakura smirked back.

Naruto turned to Trunks, “Hope I get you on my team.”

“Same here. I don’t think I’m comfortable enough around anyone else.” Trunks admitted.

Naruto chuckled, “You can blow away a Chunin but you get nervous around everyone else here? That’s insane.”

Trunks also chuckled, “Ha, I guess you could say that.”

Sasuke was less than thrilled about the idea, ‘A three man squad. These idiots are just gonna hold me back.’ His eyes trailed over to Trunks, ‘But then again, I’ll need him on my team to test myself against. If I’m ever going to beat Itachi, then I’m gonna have to beat him first.’ He thought.

Iruka skimmed over his clipboard, “The teams have already been pre-selected. I will now announce the assignments.” He began naming the teams. Some students cheered at their selection and others moaned. “Team 7, will be Trunks Briefs, Sakura Haruno,”

“YAY!” Sakura jumped out of her seat.

Ino growled.

“Sasuke Uchiha,”

“WHAT!?” Ino roared at Sakura. “Why do you get Sasuke on your team too!?”

Sakura shrugged cockily, “I called it didn't I? Looks like I win.” At this Ino looked about ready to jump out of her seat and strangle Sakura. The other girls in the class gave her an equally aggressive glare.

“and Naruto Uzumaki.” Sakura sweatdropped while Naruto cheered. He got his friend and his crush on his team.

Hinata glanced at Naruto, ‘Aw, I won’t get to be on Naruto-kun’s team.’ She thought sadly.

“Team 8; Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuga, and Kiba Inuzuka.”

“Team 10; Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara.”

Ino’s head slammed down on the desk. “You’ve gotta be kidding me.” She groaned.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at the girls primadonna attitude. Choji continued chowing down on a bag of chips.

“Those are all the squads. You’re Jonin will be here shortly.” As Iruka left a band of Jonin walked in through the door to pick up their Genin. All except for Team 7’s.

After a few minutes Sakura turned to Trunks, “Sure is taking our Jonin a while to get here, isn’t it Trunks.”

“Yeah, you’d think an ‘ _ elite Jonin _ ’ would show up on time. You’re name’s Sakura right?”

Sakura nodded happily, satisfied that a guy she actually liked was acknowledging her. She turned to her left to see Sasuke was still brooding as usual.

After another hour went by, Naruto snapped, “What’s taking him so long?!” He growled and hopped out of his seat. To ease his boredom he decided to pull one of his infamous pranks.

“Naruto, sit down and be patient!” Sakura snapped. The Uzumaki ignored her and proceeded to pick up a chalkboard eraser, a fox-like grin spreading across his face.

Naruto picked up a chair and placed it by the front door, stepping up on it and placing the eraser in a position between the door and the frame where it would fall on a person's head when they opened it.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, “You dobe, you seriously think that an elite Jonin’s gonna fall for something so juvenile?” It was ironic that the Uchiha didn’t have a problem with Naruto attempting a prank in the first place.

“Kiss my ass Sasuke-Teme. It’s not like I have a lot of options in the  _ Academy classroom _ .” Naruto shot back.

“Don’t talk to Sasuke-kun like that you Baka!” Sakura shouted.

“Can’t we all just get along?” Trunks asked, trying to keep the peace between his teammates. Naruto took his seat back next to Trunks. In all honesty, the saiyan was curious to see if the Jonin would fall for it.

After another half-hour flew by, the door slowly opened. The eraser fell on top of a tuft of silver hair. 

Kakashi deadpanned.

“Hahaha, I got’em! He totally fell for it!” Naruto snickered while leveling a teasing finger at him.

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow, ‘He fell for that? Is this guy really a Jonin?’

Sakura immediately started sucking up, “I told him it wasn’t a good idea. I’m sorry, Naruto’s so hard headed he just wouldn’t listen.” In reality she was cheering on the inside.

Trunks immediately recognised the man, but didn’t voice it. ‘I remember him.’

Kakashi put a hand up to his chin, “Hmmm, let’s see. My first impression of this group...is you’re a bunch of idiots.” Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, and Trunks sweatdropped.

XXX

The group found themselves sitting on top of the buildings rooftop. Kakashi was standing against the guardrail facing them.

“Alright,” Kakashi started, “Why don’t you introduce yourselves. One at a time.”

“Introduce ourselves? What are we supposed to say?” Sakura asked.

“You know, your names, likes and dislikes, hobbies, and your goals for the future.” Kakashi said.

Naruto had his arms folded behind his head, “Why don’t you go first? So we can have an example.”

Kakashi shrugged, “Okay. My names Kakashi, I like and dislike a few things, I have many hobbies, and my goals for the future are...none of your business.” Team 7 deadpanned.

‘He only told us his first name.’ They thought.

The copy-nin pointed to Naruto, “You’re up first, shortie.”

Naruto happily answered, “My name's Naruto Uzumaki, I like instant ramen, and the ramen Iruka-sensei gets me at the Ichiraku ramen shop, I hate the three minutes you have to wait after pouring the water in the ramen cup, and my hobbies are trying different kinds of ramen and comparing them. I also train whenever I get the chance.”

‘Well at least that’s redeeming factor.’ Kakashi thought.

“And my dream, is to be Hokage. So everyone in the village can look up to me and respect me like I’m somebody.”

Kakashi raised his visible eyebrow, ‘Well he’s certainly grown in an interesting way.’ He nodded to Sakura, “Go pinkie.”

Sakura’s eye twitched at Kakashi’s name for her, but she kept her cool and spoke, “My name is Sakura Haruno. What I like is, or the people I like…” She glanced at Trunks and Sasuke and blushed, “my hobbies are…” She once again glanced at Trunks and Sasuke and squealed, making Kakashi sweatdrop. “Oh, and what I hate...is NARUTO!” Comical tears streamed down the blondes face.

‘Harsh.’ Trunks thought.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck, “Uh, huh. You're up duck butt.”

Sasuke took a moment, “My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I don’t like very many things and I dislike a lot of things. My hobbies are training to surpass... _ certain  _ people.” His eyes trailed over to Trunks. “And my goal, well, ambition, is to kill a certain man.” Sakura and Naruto’s eyes widened.

‘He’s so hot!’ Sakura squealed.

‘I hope he doesn’t mean me.’ Naruto grimaced.

‘I know what that’s like.’ Trunks thought.

Kakashi’s eye narrowed, ‘I knew it.’ He thought. He nodded towards Trunks, “You.”

Trunks cleared his throat, “My name is Trunks Briefs. I like training, eating, and perfecting my swordsmanship. I hate those who disturb the peace and tranquility of others, and my goal,” If one looked into his eyes, they could see a life filled with sadness, agony, and darkness. Only Kakashi could see it, “Is to grow strong enough to  _ kill  _ the monsters that plague my home.”

If a pin dropped on the rooftop one could hear it. It seemed as if time stopped for the four people gathered around. A dissimilar array of thoughts flooded through the minds of those who listened,

‘M-Monsters?’ Sakura thought.

‘What could he mean?’ Naruto thought.

‘I know that feeling.’ Sasuke’s eyes narrowed.

‘....interesting.’ Kakashi thought. He put on a smile that could only be noticeable through his visible eye, “So, that’s good. You’re all unique with your own ideas. We’ll have our first mission tomorrow.”

Naruto got excited, “Our first mission?! What is it!”

“It’s a survival exercise. We will be weeding out the weak Genin from the twenty-nine that graduated. Only ten will be allowed to move forward while the rest are sent back to the Academy.” Kakashi explained to which Team 7 nodded. Kakashi turned around, “See you at the training grounds first thing in the morning. Oh, I almost forgot, I would skip breakfast if I were you. You’d puke.” He fazed out.

XXX

(The next day…)

It was six in the morning and the sky was just hitting daybreak. Naruto and Sakura were practically walking in their sleep while Trunks and Sasuke were up as if it were the afternoon. Trunks had his sword strapped to his back and was dressed in just a black tanktop and blue jeans.

“He tells us to get here early, but he doesn’t show up on time?” Trunks stated more than asked.

Naruto groaned and rubbed his eyes, “I’m really starting to hate that guy.”

Sasuke and Sakura couldn’t disagree with him. The teens sat around in a huddle for the next hour. Naruto decided to take a nap, Sasuke continued to brood, and Trunks was sparring with his sword out in the open, doing combat against various other combatants that only he could see. Sakura was ogling the swordsman out in front of her, the fact that he was wearing a tank top that showed off his muscles perfectly only made her drool. 

“Hi guys.” Kakashi said with a small wave.

“You’re late!” Sakura and Naruto snapped.

Kakashi nervously held up his hands, “Hehe, well you see a black cat crossed my path so I had to go the long way.” Trunks, Sasuke, and Sakura deadpanned while Naruto growled. Kakashi cleared his throat before walking over to a tree stump, he pulled out an alarm clock before setting it down, “Okay, it’s set for noon.” He pulled out three small silver bells from his jacket pocket, making the four Genin raise a questionable eyebrow, “You have until then to grab these bells, if you don’t then you miss lunch, simple as that.”

‘HUH!!” Naruto screeched. The thought didn’t sit well with Trunks either.

Kakashi pointed to three sets of tree stumps sitting side by side out in the open, “You’ll be tied to those stumps and will have to watch as I eat my lunch in front of you.”

The Genin grimaced, ‘So that’s why he told us not to eat breakfast...’ They thought in unison.

It was then that Sakura noticed, “Wait a minute, there’s only three bells when there are four of us.”

Kakashi eye smiled, “And that means that at least one of you will be destined to fail and sent back to the Academy. Now, you have no restrictions on weapons, abilities, or techniques. If you’re going to retrieve the bells then you’re free to come at me with the intent to kill me.”

Naruto crossed his arms behind his head and snickered, “Pffft, you couldn’t even dodge that eraser, we’d slaughter you!” 

“Well, you know what they say, the weakest dogs have the loudest bark. It’s not like I would need to keep my guard up around a loser who failed the exam twice.” Kakashi said casually.

The word loser seemed to cut a nerve in the Uzumaki. Naruto growled before flipping a kunai and charging at Kakashi. Trunks was about to jump in and stop him, but before he knew it, Naruto’s arm was pinned behind his back with his own kunai pressed against his throat.

‘Wow. So he really is a Jonin.’ Sasuke thought.

‘Even I could barely see him.’ An awestruck Trunks thought.

Kakashi released Naruto. “You should pay more attention, I didn’t even say start yet.” Naruto huffed and rubbed his sore arm. “I will say though, you did come at me with the full intention of killing me, so I guess I’m beginning to like you guys.” Kakashi turned to the rest of team 7, “Now, scatter.” The four teens fazed out.

After five minutes, Kakashi noticed no trace of his Genin left behind for him to follow, “Hm, looks like they got pretty good at hiding.” The copy-nin turned around to see Naruto standing right out in the open with his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

“You and me, right here, right now, fair and square!” He challenged.

Kakashi cocked his head.

Trunks was hovering 80 feet off the ground, overlooking the scene, “Naruto, the hell are you doing?” He asked himself.

“Y’know, compared to the others, you’re a little...off.” Kakashi admitted.

Naruto growled, “The only thing off here is your haircut!” His hands flashed through handsigns, “ **Wind Release: Air Bullets!”**

The Jonin’s eyes widened as he hopped around in a blur to avoid the pockets of air that shot after him. ‘Air bullets?! How does he know a jutsu like that at his age? And how does he have that much Chakra?’

Sasuke was just as surprised, “Since when does that dobe know a technique like that?”

After barely brushing past a bullet that grazed his shirt shoulder, tearing the fabric, Kakashi decided to move in for the offensive. When Naruto fired his last ball, Kakashi fazed from his view, shocking the blonde.

“Wh-Where did he-” He felt a sudden... _ intrusion, _ for lack of better words shoot into his rectum before he was launched into the air.

“ **Sennen Goroshi!” ** Naruto was sent into the nearby pond.

Trunks winced, “Ouch, that had to hurt.” But now it was his turn.

Kakashi dusted his hands with a satisfied smile. His senses went in overdrive as he felt a presence pop up behind him. He snapped around to block a punch by Trunks, one that was aimed at his chest. The scarecrows eye widened in pain and shock as the force of the punch had the equivalent to a moving car. Kakashi’s feet dug into the dirt and the bones in his arms rattled. 

The Jonin snapped a kick into Trunks chest which he also used as a springboard to launch himself back for distance.

The saiyan pulled his sword from his holster and dashed after the Jonin. As he closed the distance, he swung the blade in a horizontal arc that swept through the Jonin, splitting him in half.

Sasuke and Sakura’s eyes widened. The pinkette almost screamed at the brutality of the scene.

As the pieces landed the saiyan froze. Just… what has he done? Did he really just kill that man? Hoping his eyes were wrong he slowly turned to see two halves of a wooden log lying in the grass.

Trunks sighed in relief. Good news was, he didn’t kill the man. Bad news was, he got away. The son of Vegeta heard splashing coming from the pond and turned to see a soaking Naruto crawling out, shivering like a wet cat.

Naruto gave his rear a comforting rub that made Trunks snicker. 

It was time he came up with a plan, “Hey Naruto,” He got the blondes attention, “I think I have an idea,”

From several yards out, Kakashi was observing the two boys from within the forest. The man was huffing and panting from a lack of breath, “Damn *huff*, I barely made it *huff* out of that. If I screwed that up I would’ve died.” The man was starting to regret telling Trunks to come at him with killing intent. Kakashi’s interest grew as he saw Naruto summon up seven shadow clones.

“Alright,” Trunks said with a satisfied smile, “Now, I’m gonna draw him out and then your gonna jump him, Ok?”

‘I could have came up with that.’ Naruto grunted. “Alright, do it.”

Trunks sensed the forest area that he assumed Kakashi would be in, and grinned. He took another sweep and noticed that Sakura and Sasuke weren't in the area near him. That settled it, “Now I get to try out that new technique I’ve been working on.” He held out his arms toward the forest.

Kakashi quirked an eyebrow in curiosity at Trunks rapid arm movements, the limbs flying in various directions in a blur that only a dojutsu user could follow. The saiyans hands crossed over his chest, before coming out and bringing his palms forward, thumbs and index fingers touching in the form of a misshaped diamond.

“ **BURNING ATTACK!”** A yellow sphere of energy fired from the teens hands and towards Kakashi.

“WHAT THE HELL!?” The Jonin screamed as the sphere hit a tree and detonated, the explosion and heat disintegrating and uprooting all trees and foliage in near contact. 

The tremor knocked Sakura out of a tree. Lucky for her, Sasuke caught her before she hit the ground.

“Wh-what did he just do!?” Sasuke growled.

Naruto stood mouth agape at the aftermath of the attack. The blast carved a gash in the earth half a mile long and wide, leaving charred dirt and ash in its wake.

“Oops.” Trunks squeaked, lowering his steaming hands.

“Yeah. Oops.” Naruto confirmed. His clones nodded in agreement. It was then the blonde felt the ground vibrate under him. Before he could react, two hands sprung up around his ankles and drug him into the ground, leaving only his head above. Trunks and Naruto’s clones took a battle stance as Kakashi jumped out of the ground like a mole.

With a battle cry, the mob of clones swarmed Kakashi who pulled a kunai and slashed away, the Bunshins popping in a burst of white vapor. Almost like he had eyes on the back of his head he sidestepped a punch from Trunks who sailed past him. Kakashi took advantage of that by grabbing the back of Trunks tank top shirt to fling him onto the ground, the whiplash making the saiyans head spin.

Trunks felt a knee get planted on his chest to keep him flat on his back. With his mind boggling he couldn’t really comprehend that he was strong enough to toss the man off him.

With an eye smile Kakashi looked down at him, “Yo.” The man greeted. “You know, you should really work on-” A flurry of shuriken struck him on the entirety of the jonin’s right side. The blades also sticking out of his head.

In shock, Trunks watched as the man was thrown off his body and into a bloody heap in the grass. He heard footsteps run up behind him; he turned to see it was Sasuke.

Naruto, who was still stuck under the ground from the neck down, looked back and forth between the corpse and Sasuke in horror, “S-Sasuke, what was that for!? You took that way too far!”

The Uchiha ignored him, ‘No, it couldn’t be that easy to beat him.’ The corpse popped in a wave of smoke, revealing a log with shuriken sticking out of it. ‘Damn! I knew it!’ It was then that he felt a rumbling under the ground below him. Knowing what was about to happen, he would have moved, if only his reflexes would allow it.

“Smooth move Sasuke.”

“You’re in no better shape than I am, idiot.” The two boys were both heads sticking out of the dirt.

Sakura wandered through the forest, having got left behind by Sasuke who went to challenge Kakashi. She managed to hear the familiar sound of Sasuke and Naruto’s bickering voices coming from an area, and continued to follow it. The pinkette was led out of the forest and froze when she saw what she  _ swore _ looked like her teammates severed heads lying on the ground.

Naruto was the first to notice her, “Hey Sakura!”

The girl shrieked and fainted.

.

.

.

“Smooth move Naruto.” Sasuke mocked.

Trunks and Kakashi stood in a clearing, the saiyan facing the jonin with his sword unsheathed.

The copy-nin was actually in a fighting stance, he hadn’t imagined he would have to  _ try _ against a genin half his age. “I must admit, you’re much stronger than the others. Wouldn’t have thought that Ki would do that for a person.”

“It’s not just Ki, I had a great master as well.”

Kakashi nodded. “Well, let’s see how well he prepared you.” The Jonin held up the bells as a form of challenge. The saiyan charged in a horizontal swing from his sword that would be aimed to slice the man in half.

Kakashi leaned all the way back to where the back of his head nearly touched the ground to avoid it before snapping a kick into Trunks chest, picking the teen up off the ground. The jonin maneuvered behind the saiyan as he landed and rammed an elbow into the younger boys back, making him stumble.

Trunks delivered a back kick to the Jonin who dissipated in a burst of smoke, making the saiyan kick a tree log in half.

“That’s getting really annoying.” Trunks growled.

“But it’s necessary.” A voice casually noted from behind him making him swing around to see Kakashi’s face before he was given a kick to the stomach, making stumble back a few paces. None of the hits hurt the saiyan, but the surprise got him. “It’s strange, somehow I get the feeling you're not coming at me to kill me.”

Trunks smirked, “Of course not. If I did, I promise you I would have.”

Kakashi then remembered the attack the boy attempted earlier and the damage it caused. Something told the Jonin the kid wasn’t bluffing.

Trunks could sense Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura’s presence in the area near him. They had to be close enough to be watching them. The demi-saiyan took a glance past the Jonin and into the woods past him, and noticed the three were indeed watching them from within the trees. Whether Kakashi noticed them the saiyan didn’t know, but he was going to need their help if he was gonna get those bells.

As if he could read Trunks mind, Sasuke turned to Naruto, “Hey Naruto, I think I have a plan on how we can get those bells.”

“What is it Sasuke?” Sakura was the one to ask for Naruto.

“Simple. Naruto’s gonna make  _ only  _ three clones to go after Kakashi, simply because we don’t need him to Kawarimi out of our field of view. Then I’m gonna use Phoenix Flower Jutsu on the surrounding area to keep him closed in. Hopefully, Trunks will know to go for the bells or keep him restrained, if not, you will Naruto, and I’ll get the bells.”

Naruto and Sakura nodded, “Alright!”

As Trunks moved to charge Kakashi again, the two heard a battle cry coming from the trees. Four Naruto’s leapt out at the Jonin who once again pulled a kunai.

“ **Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!” ** A volley of fireballs ignited the area around Kakashi, keeping the Jonin confined in a ring with Trunks and Naruto.

Three of Naruto’s clones charged at Kakashi, fists pulled back in preparation of a punch to the face. Kakashi put his arms up to block but was met with a surprise when he felt two arms put him in a full nelson. He managed to turn his head enough to get a glimpse of lavender hair.

“Naruto, grab the bells now!” Trunks yelled.

The clones hopped up and delivered a punch to Kakashi’s face before dissipating. The real Naruto managed to slide in and snatch the three bells from Kakashi’s waist before kicking off his chest. Trunks tossed the man over him, who managed to twist and land gracefully on his feet like a cat.

One couldn’t see it, but from under his mask, Kakashi was smiling. He was impressed.

Naruto quickly tossed a bell to Trunks and Sasuke, the latter of whom managed to jump in as soon as Kakashi was restrained.

Sakura gasped as she realized she was the only one without a bell. Trunks, knowing that being a shinobi probably meant more to her than it did to him, tossed the girl his bell. With a reluctant hand she caught it. “Trunks-kun, you don’t have to-” The demi saiyan put a finger to his lips to shush her.

Kakashi gave an eye smile to the four, “Congratulations those of you who actually managed to get a bell. Even though you have shown enough skill to complete the challenge, my rules still stand. Trunks will be tied up while the rest of you eat.”

“What! That’s so unfair, he worked just as hard as the rest of us, he deserves to eat as much as we do.” Sakura argued.

“Yeah Kakashi-sensei, what gives? That’s a load of bull!” Naruto pointed an accusing finger at Kakashi. Even Sasuke couldn’t disagree.

Kakashi shrugged. “Maybe, but that’s the way a shinobi’s life is. Sometimes one member of a squad must fall so the others can stay safe. Happens all the time. Now follow me.”

Trunks was promptly tied to the wood stump while Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were given bento boxes. Kakashi told the four he would be leaving to give a report to the Hokage, only after giving them strict instruction to not feed the saiyan. If they did, then they all failed.

The second Kakashi left the four, Naruto took two bites of his meal and handed the box to Trunks.

Startled, the saiyan prince said, “Naruto, you don’t have to give me anything. You don’t need to fail for my sake.”

“Screw that guy! If it weren’t for you we wouldn’t have been able to get the bells in the first place.”

Sakura took two bites of her food, “Naruto’s right. Here.” She tried to hand her box to the saiyan who she noticed he couldn’t feed himself with his hands tied. She smiled before picking up a bit of food with her chopsticks and bringing it up to Trunks mouth. “Open wide.”

Blushing furiously, the saiyan did as he was told and let Sakura feed him. When he ate all that was in her box, she then fed him Naruto’s box, and even Sasuke was willing to give him his food.

From the trees, Kakashi was overlooking the scene, satisfied with what he saw. ‘Time to give them a scare.’

The man appeared in front of the Genin, effectively shocking Naruto into shouting. Kakashi’s eye held a look of absolute  _ fury  _ present in them. “YOU!” He boomed. Somehow a gust of wind picked up behind the man and whipped the teens hair and clothes in a frenzy. “You all broke the rules. I hope you all are ready to accept the consequences.” His hands went through a series of signs. “Any last words?”

Sasuke was surprisingly the first one to speak, “We’re all on this squad and we’re all in this together.”

“Yeah! I’m not sitting by and letting my teammate suffer just to follow your rules!” Naruto spoke up.

Sakura nodded, “We’re all in this together! The three of us gave our lunch to him because the four of us are one!

The saiyan looked back and forth between his team and Kakashi. Were they really willing to jeopardize their careers just for the sake of giving him food? Guilt was beginning to bear down on him.

Kakashi began to approach the four, killing intent building with every step, “The four of you are one, huh?” He leaned in, “You pass.” The killing intent disappeared in an instant. 

“What?” The four said in unison.

“You pass. Congratulations, you’re the first team I’ve ever had pass this specific test. Which is a huge accomplishment.” The man walked up to Trunks and with a swipe of his kunai, cut his rope bonds. Trunks rubbed his hands to ease out the tension of having them restrained. Even though he could have easily tore through the ropes himself.

Sakura asked, “But why Kakashi? We went against your orders.”

“And that’s specifically why you passed. All of the other Genin I tested actually followed my orders, and that’s where they messed up. They simply couldn’t think for themselves. A ninja must be able to see through deception. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends and comrades, are worse than scum.” He motioned for the four to follow him.

The four were led to a large piece of black stone with calligraphy inscribed on it. The stone was protruding from out of the grass. Kakashi’s voice became much more sullen compared to how he usually talked, as if he was reliving past experiences, “Have any of you ever got to look at this stone? These are the names of ninja’s who have been hailed as heroes of our village.”

Naruto grinned, “Oh yeah! Well that’s gonna be me someday.”

Kakashi continued, “They were hailed as a special kind of hero. These shinobi were...K.I.A.”

Naruto’s grin widened, “K.I.A? That sounds cool!”

“They’re dead Naruto.” Trunks said simply.

“Oh.” The blonde’s mood dropped.

“Some of my closest friends names have been engraved on this stone. Either having been killed during missions or casualties of the third shinobi war. Life as a Shinobi isn’t easy. It’s brutal, tough, and grim. If this is the lifestyle that you choose you have to know that you will be enduring these hardships for the sake of this village.” Kakashi finished. Although he didn’t turn to face his team, the man was expecting some sort of reaction out of them.

Trunks had seen enough in his life not to be fazed by anything this world threw at him.

Sakura felt that this was merely a test of her love. If she truly cared about Sasuke or Trunks, then she could endure the challenges that being a shinobi gave her.

Sasuke had one goal and one goal only. Whatever he had to do to make  _ him  _ pay, he would face it. He wasn’t scared.

Naruto clenched his fists. A grin slowly clambering it’s way across his face. He raised his fist to the air, “Yeah, well I’m not scared. I’m gonna be Hokage and I’ll overcome whatever challenges come my way, and pulverize whoever stands in my way. Believe it!” (A/N: I swear that will be one of the  _ extremely  _ rare time’s he ever says that.)

Kakashi turned and raised an eyebrow, ‘Is that so? Hm, I haven’t a doubt in my mind. And I think I owe it to your father to help you reach that goal.’ The man eye smiled. “Well everyone, get some rest. Squad Seven starts their first mission tomorrow!”

“Yes!” Sakura cheered.

Sasuke and Trunks gave satisfied smirks.

Naruto whooped and hollered, making a scene like he usually did. The group left the training ground, excited for their career to come.

  
  


XXX

A/N: To be honest, I rushed that ending. But give me a break it was 19 pages long on Google Docs. Anyways, now we can get into the nitty gritty of the story starting next chapter, which, I’m hoping will begin the trip to Wave.

Review and let me know your thoughts!


	6. Wave

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or Naruto.

XXX

“ _ Sasuke; point B _ .” The Uchiha’s voice radioed in.

“ _ Sakura I’m at point C.” _

_ “Naruto, I’m at point A, dattebayo.” _

Kakashi’s irritable voice chimed in, “You’re slow, Naruto. What about you Trunks?”

The saiyan was hovering over the forest that his team was positioned in. His eyes scanned over the forest floor for any signs of the target they were supposed to capture. It was actually his idea to go for an aerial position to give his team an additional perspective. 

“ _ Trunks, I’m at 200 feet over the forest floor.”  _ He voiced into the mic attached to his ear.

The Jonin nodded from his position within the forest brush. It wasn’t his job to help his team catch the target, but to at least keep them organized and guide them closer to it. “Good, now Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, what’s your approximate distance from the target?”

In unison the three moved in closer to a position behind their own tree.

“We’re at least five meters. Just give me the signal.” Naruto said.

“I’m ready too.” Sasuke spoke.

Sakura nodded, “So am I.”

Kakashi waited a moment. Then two. Before calling, “Now!”

The three shot out from their position and lunged after their small furry subject. Before the cat could leap away, Naruto managed to wrap his arms around it. “I got it I got it!” He called as he struggled to hold the flailing and screeching feline.

“Can you identify a red ribbon on it’s right ear?” Kakashi voiced into Sasuke’s mic.

The Uchiha turned around to observe the small brown cat that was clawing away at Naruto’s face, who was letting out comical yelps and cries of pain. Sakura was smiling at the act that she thought was adorable. Sasuke noted the small red bow, “Yeah, we got a positive I.D.”

Trunks landed in to attempt helping Naruto with the cat. He grabbed the feline by its back and placed his hand gently atop its head, 

“Wanna see a trick?” he asked his team, “* _ Relax _ .*” he said sternly, both in voice and telepathically to the animal that instantly mellowed out.

“Tch, speak to animals now?” Sasuke asked.

Trunks shrugged, handing the cat to Sakura who had hearts in her eyes, “My master grew up around wildlife. He managed to teach me a few tricks he used to keep wolves from munching on him.”

Naruto angrily rubbed the scratches on his face, “I got a few messages for you to pass on.” he grumbled.

XXX

Within the Academy, the five stood within the Mission Assignment room with a look of disgust present on their faces. Except for Naruto that is. The cat, who’s name is Tora, was getting the life squeezed out of it by it’s overweight and overjoyed owner, the wife of the Fire Daimyo.

“Ohhh thank you thank you thaaank you for bringing me my baby back.” The woman squealed while giving her screeching cat a loving yet painful hug.

‘Geez, no wonder it ran away.’ Trunks thought sympathetically as he watched comical tears stream out of the cat’s eyes.

Naruto stood with a triumphant grin and his arms crossed, ‘Heh, stupid kitty deserves to get squashed.’

The Hokage picked up a piece of paper and recorded the team’s mission success. “Now then, for squad 7’s next mission we have plenty available. Among them are babysitting the chief counselors daughter, helping his wife do the shopping, mowing their law-”

“Noooooooo!” Naruto groaned out loud, “I want something challenging and exciting, not this little kids stuff, come on old man!”

His teammates couldn’t disagree. This was getting rather boring and tiresome.

A vein throbbed on Iruka’s forehead, “How dare you!” He rose from out of his seat, “You’re just a genin with no experience! You start off with simple missions to develop your skills and improve yourself!”

Naruto shot back, “Are you kidding me! Babysitting’s not a mission it’s just a stupid- aauuaghh” a fist crashed into the back of his head, knocking him face first into the floor.

“Will you put a lid on it.” Kakashi groaned.

Naruto rubbed his head and pouted in a childish way. The act made Iruka and Sarutobi smile.

Sarutobi put his pipe up to his mouth and chuckled, “It would appear that Naruto wants to prove that he isn’t just a brat, but a former brat. And he wants a real mission. So be it.”

“Huh?” Team 7 gasped.

“Since you are all so determined, I will give you a C-Ranked mission. The fact that you are the only four man squad makes this all the more reasonable.” Hiruzen skimmed through a list of possible assignments, “Ah, you four will be bodyguards on a journey.”

Naruto’s eyes lit up, “Really? Yes! Who? Who? Is it a princess? Or an important counselor?”

“Don’t be so impatient. I’ll bring him in now.” Hiruzen motioned to a Chunin standing in the corner of the room. 

After the man left out of the room, the door slowly opened to reveal an elderly man with glasses and a bottle of alcohol. The man’s eyes were red and droopy, an obvious sign that he was drunk.

With a slurred voice, the man said, “Whaa, jus’ a bunch a snot nosed kids?” He took another swig from his bottle. His eyes trailed over to Naruto, “You, short one with the stupid look on his face, you expect me to believe that you’re a ninja?”

Oblivious to the fact that he was insulted, Naruto laughed and said, “Hahaha, who’s the short one with the stupid look on- huh?” He noticed that he was shorter than Sasuke, Sakura, and Trunks.

“Lemme at him! I’ll pulverise that bastard!” Naruto found himself being restrained by Trunks and Kakashi. Sasuke and Sakura were pinching the bridge of their nose in embarrassment.

The man continued, “The names Tazuna, I’m a professional bridge builder and I must return to my country. I’m building a bridge there that will change our world, so I need you to get me there even if it’s at the cost of your life.”

Kakashi nodded, “Nice to meet you. And don’t worry, this is what my team signed up for.” He slapped Naruto on the back of the head.

XXX

As the group made their first steps outside of the village gates, Naruto cheered, “Alllriighht!”

“What are you so excited about, Naruto?” Sakura asked, growing slightly irritated.

The blonde got a feel for his surroundings, taking in his sights, “This is the first time I ever got to leave the village! I’m officially a traveler now, dattebayo!”

Tazuna groaned before he barked, “Are you really expecting me to put my life in the hands of this runt? He’s a joke!”

Trunks, having grown tired of Tazuna’s treatment of his friend, tapped him on the shoulder, “You know, our mission is only to get you home in one piece. I don’t think anyone said you had to be conscious.” Tazuna’s eyes widened. The fact that the boy had a sword strapped to his back didn’t make him any less intimidating. Grinning, knowing that he got his point across, Trunks finished, “One more crack like that and it’s lights out old man.”

Kakashi’s eye widened. ‘Wasn’t expecting that.’ But he smiled behind his mask, “Alright everyone, let’s get moving.”

The group walked down a set dirt path for a few miles. There was forest on either side of them that allowed the team to hear birds chirping, cicadas hissing, and the rustling sound of leaves in the trees. There was a cool breeze that funneled through that kept them from grieving under the hot sun.

As she walked, Sakura turned to Trunks. The pinkette always found the saiyan interesting, mainly because he was different. He was so polite, calm, and well-mannered compared to most of the other genin, he was so toned and muscular for someone their age, he had a different style of dress, and he carried a sword strapped to his back. 

She noticed that the saiyan today was actually dressed out in attire similar to theirs. He wore a blue open-collar tracksuit jacket that had a white inside and trim, the jacket he left open to his black t-shirt, he also wore blue track pants and white shinobi sandals (Basically his outfit is the same as Boruto’s, but with a different color scheme). The pinkette still couldn’t take her eye’s off the boys sword, he brought it everywhere with him, no matter where they went, and judging by how he almost cut Kakashi in two, it showed that he wasn’t afraid to use it.

“Hey Trunks,” She got the saiyans attention, “I was wondering, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s with the sword? You bring it with you everywhere we go.” Although they didn’t voice it, everyone else was wondering the same thing.

Trunks pulled the blade out of its holster, and glanced over it, taking in all of the memories that he had with the blade. “I can answer that. This sword was given to me by someone important. A man named Tapion who me and my mother had to care for and look after.” his frowned, “He was severely injured by the same beings that terrorised my home. He taught me how to wield this,” he gave the blade a twirl before holstering it, “and even became one of the few friends I’ve ever had. Since my mom lacked the medical tools needed to keep him alive, he began to suffer. Eventually I had to put him out of his misery.” His voice became darker the more the saiyan spoke, and everyone could see why. Had they known that the history behind that sword would be so depressing, they wouldn’t have asked.

Naruto spoke up, “You keep mentioning these guys that ruined your home, who were they?”

Trunks face darkened and his fists clenched tight. Kakashi noticed.

“I think that’ll be best left not discussed.” The scarecrow said.

The six continued their journey in awkward silence. Eventually, they crossed over a small puddle of water, which seemed odd to Trunks, considering it hasn’t rained at all in the past few days.

He could hear a rippling coming from the puddle, and faster than he could react a being rose from the water, and threw another like it. The two had a long spiked chain connecting them together that they used to wrap and bound Kakashi, leaving the man helpless.

“Do it!” The attacker told his brother, the two merging with the ground on either side of Kakashi. 

In a terrifying show of brutality, Kakashi was ripped to shreds right in front of the genin’s and Tazuna’s eyes. The pieces fell to the ground in a pile, eliciting a horrified scream from Sakura. Sasuke stared in horror.

“Kakashi-sensei!” Naruto shouted.

Trunks growled, ‘No...he just died and I didn’t stop it!’ he clenched his fists, ‘Not again. I  _ won’t _ let this happen  _ again _ !” He declared in his head.

The enemy shinobi threw their chain in the air in an attempt to ensnare Naruto. Sasuke acted fast by throwing a shuriken and kunai that caused the chain to lock up and get stuck to the trunk of a tree.

“I-I can’t move!” One of the shinobi gasped.

“We’re stuck!” His brother noticed.

Trunks unsheathed his sword. “Bingo.”

A series of flashes and ethereal streaks passed through the chunin, before they went still, almost frozen in time. Trunks fazed in front of his bewildered teammates, sword held out to the side, slick with blood. He took a moment to stand straight and slowly slide his sword back in the holster.

The second he did, both the enemy shinobi’s arms and heads flew off, blood shooting out of the open stumps like spigots. Sakura screamed again and jumped back, scared of getting blood on her. Naruto, Sasuke, and Tazuna were equally shocked.

Trunks turned around to see the enemy shinobi remains slumped to the ground in a fast growing puddle of blood.

“Well that was gruesome.” A familiar voice cut in, making the genin and Tazuna gasp and turn around. Kakashi was completely unharmed and standing with an eye smile. “Yo!” He said with a slight wave.

“Kakashi-sensei, we saw you get killed! How are you still alive!?” Naruto asked. Kakashi nodded to the side, making Naruto look to see a pile of tree stumps lying on the ground. “Substitution.” Naruto realized.

“Sorry to scare you guys like that, but I was wanting to make sure who they were after. Only Trunks killed them before I could make sure.”

“Sorry about that.” Trunks apologised.

Kakashi waved his hand, “Don’t be. You did your duty and protected everyone. No harm in that.” Kakashi observed the heads that lied in the dirt, the brothers eyes wide open in shock. “Gozu and Meizu, the Demon Brothers. These were missing-nin from Kirigakure. Missing nin don’t just randomly attack shinobi of other villages, meaning that they had to be after something,  _ someone _ .”

The fact that Kakashi was staring dead at him made Tazuna bow his head. He needed to confess, “You’re right, this mission probably is outside your line of duties. It turns out that an extremely dangerous man wants me dead." He lowered his head, "I'm sure you've heard his name before. The wealthy shipping tycoon, a man named Gato."

"Gato?" Kakashi asked, "From Gato Industries? It’s said that he’s one of the world's most wealthy people."

The bridge builder continued, "Yes, he officially runs a shipping company, but he secretly sells drugs and other illegal items using ninjas and gang members to take over businesses in other countries. He's a horrible man."

“I take it the bridge is in his way?” Trunks asked.

Tazuna nodded, “If I manage to get that bridge completed, then it’ll allow us to freely do trade which will stabilize the economy in Wave.”

Things were starting to make sense to Kakashi, but one thing still stuck out, "I’m sure you have a good reason as to why you didn’t tell us this beforehand, but lying isn’t acceptable. They’re only Genin, and this mission is at least a B-Rank. It’s a stretch that they’re doing a C-Rank at all."

Tazuna eyes narrowed, "The wave country is extremely poor, even the feudal lord has little money. Naturally we won’t have much either. Not enough for an expensive B rank mission.

If you quit now, I'll definitely be killed.” He took a deep breath and tried to make it seem as if it wasn’t so bad, “But don't worry about it. If I die my ten year old grandson will just cry for a few days. Maybe a few weeks. Oh, and my daughter will live a sad life hating leaf ninjas forever, but it won't be your fault, not at all." The look on their faces showed that Tazuna was playing the guilt card, and he played it rather well. He had them eating out the palm of his hand.

Trunks turned to Kakashi, “Then I’m definitely helping. I’m not just gonna leave this man to die.”

"I wanna prove to myself that I can handle this. Let’s continue with the mission." Naruto said with determination. Sasuke agreed with him.

Although she didn’t voice it, or even show it, Sakura was scared, ‘I  _ really  _ think we should head back to the village.’

The copy-nin sighed, "I guess we have no choice then, we'll protect you at least until you get back to your country." said Kakashi, feeling slightly guilty over thinking about abandoning the man.

Although the elderly man appeared humble on the outside, on the inside he was grinning. The guilt card worked and he knew it.

XXX

Team seven was on their way to Wave Country by boat. The further in they went, the more fog started to build up, obstructing their vision. 

"The fog's so thick, I can't see ahead." Sakura said, having stated the obvious to everyone else.

Sasuke sat staring pliantly into the mist and water. Naruto watched Trunks wipe his sword clean with a black bandana that the saiyan carried in his jacket pocket. 

“Hey Trunks, you think you could help me use a sword?” The Uzumaki asked the saiyan.

Not taking his eyes off his blade, Trunks shrugged, “Sure, I guess I don’t mind.”

“You know, I think I know a person who could train both of you to use a blade, or in your case Trunks, use a blade better.” Kakashi said casually, the man was lying back with his arms folded behind his head.

This spiked Trunks interest, “Oh really? Who!?” Naruto was also curious.

“She’s an old friend of mine from back in my Anbu days. She’s a specialist in kenjutsu and so is her boyfriend. So if the two of you want, I can convince them to give you both training sessions.”

“Alright!” The boys said in unison.

The boat reached shore and the group disembarked. "This is it for me." The boatman told them. "Goodbye, and good luck."

Tazuna bid him thanks and they went on their way, "Please get me home safely." Tazuna asked.

"Yeah, yeah," Kakashi sighed. 'Just know that if we get attacked again it will probably be by a jonin instead of chunin.'

Team 7 was once again traversing down a dirt path. The setting was actually a lot similar to what the group traveled back home.

As Naruto walked, he couldn’t stop thinking about what happened when they were still in Fire country. He growled in his head, ‘When we got attacked, Sasuke and Trunks managed to take care of those guys no sweat. And what was I doing? Standing around like defenseless coward. No way I’m letting that happen again. I’ll show both of them!’

Thinking he heard something Naruto threw a shuriken into a nearby bush. "Heh heh, its just a squirrel." He tried to play it off.

Sakura slapped him in the back of the head, "Stop trying to act cool! There's nothing there!"

Kakashi stared at him dully, "Please stop throwing shuriken Naruto, It's dangerous."

"Hey shortie, stop being an idiot!" Tazuna groaned.

Naruto then looked around frantically, "I think I see a shadow." He threw a kunai towards a bush, causing him to get hit in the head harder by Sakura.

"I said stop it, baka!"

The blonde clutched his head, "We're being followed, I swear!" Naruto cried with comical tears coming out of his eyes.

As Sakura scolded Naruto; Kakashi, Sasuke, and Trunks actually heard the puncture sound of the kunai hit something. The three approached the bush, and Kakashi spread it apart, revealing a snow white bunny with blood staining its fur. The kunai pierced its stomach.

"Hmm." Kakashi said out loud, getting Sakura's attention.

Sakura gasped, “Naruto you idiot, what have you done!?” She made the blonde look at the dead rodent.

Naruto panicked and ran up to revive the rabbit, a futile effort. “Noooo, I’m so sorry little buddy. I didn’t mean it, please forgive me!” He sobbed and cradled the bunnies corpse, making Trunks and Sasuke sweatdrop.

Meanwhile Kakashi was thinking to himself, 'That's a snow rabbit, yet it's spring... what's with its color? The snow rabbit changes color based on its environmental conditions. White is it's color during the winter. Meaning this rabbit has been kept in captivity... this is a trap!"

Seeing something move from a nearby tree Kakashi reacted, "Everyone duck!"

A giant sword swung past them and stuck itself in a tree. A man jumped down and landed on top of the hilt, staring at Kakashi. His lower face was covered in a mask of bandages, he had a mist headband on his head tilted to the side, making his black hair stick out in a fashion similar to Kakashi’s. He also wore striped brown pants with camo gauntlets and boots that covered the unhealthily gray skin on his arms and legs. His torso was left open.

"Well, if it isn't the hidden mist's missing nin, Zabuza Momochi." Kakashi smirked under his mask.

Naruto’s hands started going through signs while Trunks began to build up Ki in his hands, only for both boys to be stopped when Kakashi put a hand in front of them.

"Everyone stay back, he's on a whole nother level from you." Kakashi warned. "He’s an S-class missing nin of Kirigakure, one of the seven ninja swordsman of the mist." Kakashi put his hand over his head band prepared to raise it and uncover his left eye.

The bandages on Zabuza’s face stretched, an obvious sign of a wide grin, "So, you're Sharingan Kakashi. Sorry but the old man’s mine."

'Sharingan, what's that?' Naruto wondered.

Sasuke's eyes grew wide in realization. ‘Impossible!’

Trunks still stood in a fighting stance, “Are you sure about this sensei? I’m sure I’m capable of handling him.”

Kakashi nodded, “Maybe you could, but I still don’t know what your limitations are. I’ll be a lot more comfortable if you guard Tazuna with the others.” Trunks nodded and went to surround Tazuna with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. The scarecrow faced the Demon of the Mist, "Well Zabuza," Kakashi raised the headband to uncover his left eye. The flesh had a long scar running straight down it, but what everyone saw in the eye caught them by surprise. The iris was red with three black swirls around it. "Lets go."

"I'm honored, I get to see the infamous sharingan. You do realize not letting the kid over there fight will only delay the inevitable." Zabuza said cockily.

"It won’t make a huge difference. Believe it or not, that kid is a Ki user, and he’s least as strong as me." Kakashi said smugly.

"Bullshit. It’s impossible for anyone to use Ki. Either way, there’s a reason the concept was abandoned for chakra." Zabuza said in reply.

Kakashi shrugged, “Maybe, but after seeing just what it’s capable of, I don’t think I would mind being able to use it.” He narrowed his eyes, “I doubt you’d even stand a chance against my sharingan.”

"Sharingan, Sharingan, what the heck is it?" Naruto demanded. Trunks was curious too. Surprisingly Sasuke was the one to answer.

"It is said that some have the ability in their eyes to read and defeat all types of Tai, Gen, and Nin-jutsu. The sharingan is one of the types of dojutsu that will give you this power. But that's not the only ability it has." Sasuke answered.

"What?" Naruto asked confused.

"Heh heh, you got it kid, but that's not all." Zabuza said smugly, "What's even scarier is that you can copy an opponent's techniques once you see them."

‘I wonder if solar flare would be a good counter for it?' Trunks thought to himself after hearing this.

"When I was a member of the Hidden Mist Assassin team, I kept a handbook that included information on you and this is what it said, _ The man who has copied over one thousand jutsu, Copy Ninja Kakashi. _ "

"Incredible." Trunks mumbled to himself. The other’s thoughts weren’t too far off.

'How could this be,' Sasuke thought, "The sharingan is a special physical ability that only appears in a select few members of the Uchiha clan. There’s no way he could- or, could he?..."

"Enough talk, I have to kill the old man." Zabuza eyed Kakashi as killing intent filled the air, "But it seems I have to kill you first?" He pulled his giant sword out of the tree and jumped into a nearby lake. Only, he stood right on top of it.

‘He can he stand on water?’ An alarmed Trunks thought. Sure he could fly, but even he couldn’t just walk on water. He quickly turned his attention back to Zabuza. 

Sasuke noted to himself, 'He's releasing a lot of chakra.' A thick mist began to envelop the area.

"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!" Zabuza disappeared in the mist.

"He's gone!" Tazuna exclaimed.

Kakashi's eyes narrowed, "He'll come after me first, he's an expert in silent killing, you won't know he's there till you're already dead. I can't use the Sharingan perfectly, so you guys be careful."

Everyone's eyes except Trunks got wide with fear. The saiyan just drew his sword and kept it at the ready, a tight grip with both hands on the handle.

"The mist is getting thicker!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Which one should I go after." Zabuza’s gravelly voice echoed through the mist, "There's eight for me to choose from; kidney, heart, jugular vein, throat, liver, lungs, spine, and brain."

Zabuza's boasting allowed Trunks to listen in long enough to sense for the missing-nin’s general direction. He fired a ki blast at a point that he thought would hit his intended target. The sound of a tree cracking and crashing to the ground was all he got.

"Ooh, I guess Kakashi wasn’t lying. To be honest you almost hit me." He heard the assassin through the mist. “I think I might just kill you first.”

"Damn!" Trunks exclaimed.

Kakashi prepared a hand sign.

Sasuke's eyes widened in fear, 'Such killing intent, it feels like I'll be killed in an instant if I made the wrong move. I feel like I’m going insane.’ His heart beat faster and faster as his blood went ice-cold, ‘Maybe...maybe I should let him kill me and get it over with...' Sasuke shook himself out of his nonsensical train of thought.

While everyone else was scared, Trunks wasn’t. He was more than confident that he could take this man in a fight. Or, maybe that was his saiyan arrogance that his mom said he inherited from his father. It wouldn’t matter, if this man turned out to be a problem then the saiyan still had his super saiyan form to fall back on. It would be pretty cool if he found a reason to use it outside of just flashing it for show. Even that he still hadn’t had the opportunity to do since he got here.

"Don't worry, I'll protect you guys even if it kills me." Kakashi said assuringly. He then smiled though the only way you could tell was by his eyes. "I don't allow my teammates to die. That’s a promise." Trunks could tell that Kakashi picked up on the other’s discomfort.

"We'll see about that." Zabuza appeared between the group of genin and Tazuna. "It's over!" He started to swing only for his sword to be intercepted and stopped cold by Trunks own.

"Sorry Kakashi, but I couldn’t help myself." Trunks smirked.

Kakashi also grinned, “Forget what I said, finish him.”

Trunks held up his free hand and fired a ki blast into Zabuza’s stomach. His eyes widened at the body that burst into a spray of water.

"Impressive, a kid being able to destroy one of my water clones." A voice said behind him. Zabuza swung his sword at an angle that would slice Trunks in half from the waist. 

With lightning fast reflexes he managed to turn around and stop the blade again with his much smaller one. Sparks flew from the force of the colliding swords.

Zabuza’s eyes widened in disbelief at the teen kid who managed to hold off his  Kubikiribōchō with such a small blade. The fact that the lavender haired boy’s arms were barely moving from what  _ should  _ be Zabuza’s superior strength also alarmed the man.

Kakashi smirked from under his mask and drew a kunai. Now was as good a time as any to attack Zabuza. The scarecrow snapped behind him to plunge the kunai into Zabuza’s throat, having felt a presence appear right behind him. Water sprayed from Zabuza’s neck before the body burst into a spray of water. “Another clone?” Kakashi said more than asked in an irritated voice.

Trunks quickly looked back and forth between Kakashi and Zabuza before jumping up and slamming both feet into Zabuza’s chest, performing a fluid drop-kick, sending the man back far and hard enough to burst his body into water.

Trunks scoffed as he stood up straight, “Clones and substitutions, it’s all getting  _ really  _ annoying.”

Kakashi actually smirked, “To be honest, right now, I actually agree with you Trunks.”

Naruto kept glancing around him, full of anxiety. And a hint of fear. Was this really what it’s like to be in an actual shinobi battle? The blonde knew he had no place in this fight, and honestly, he never felt so vulnerable.

“Kakashi look out!” Sakura’s scream prompted Kakashi to look behind him to see Zabuza’s blade closing in on him. The jonin made a prayer that he could finish his last handsign before he was cut in two.

Apparently the gods were on his side seeing as Kakashi’s body burst in a spray of water, showering Zabuza. The Demon of the mist looked out at the lake to see something rise to its surface.

Kakashi burst out of the surface of the lake with a gasp, coughing in an attempt to clear his lungs. By a hair he managed to make a successful getaway, but instantly realized that something wasn't right here. The water was dense, as if it was a solid and not liquid.

'Not good!' Kakashi thought desperately as a shadow fell over him. He turned and saw Zabuza looming over him, hands flying through seals to use a jutsu. The grey ninja’s bandages stretched as a psychotic grin twisted his features. This time, the grin was large enough to cause a gap in the wrappings and allowed Kakashi a glimpse of his mouth, complete with teeth filed to points. 

‘Damn! He caught me in Water Prison Jutsu!’ Kakashi's mind went blank as he was enveloped in a bubble of chakra-enhanced water. This was definitely not good. How was he going to protect his squad and Tazuna in this condition? The only positive was that Zabuza needed to stay in contact with the prison for it to stay active. Then Hatake caught sight of a mound of water rise up to man height and began to take on a shape. 

Another clone...

Trunks looked back and forth between Kakashi and the clone that Zabuza formed. The real Zabuza glared at Kakashi with his insane grin stretching his bandages before setting his eyes on the genin and Tazuna.

“EVERYONE RUN!” Kakashi shouted, voice hollow from within the water sphere, effectively shocking the genin at the uncharacteristic display of alarm, “I was finished the moment he trapped me, take Tazuna and finish the mission!”

At this Naruto shouted back, “Like hell we’re leaving you here! You said that those who abandon their friends are worse than scum, and I agree with that! We’ll find a way to take this guy out and bring you with us!” Sasuke and Sakura nodded in agreement.

Kakashi cursed. Why did his team have to be so hardheaded? The only person he felt he could put his faith in was Trunks, and that was  _ only  _ because of the amount of power he held. As far as the jonin knew, that boy only had the mentality of a genin.

Naruto’s hands started to shift through handsigns before he was stopped by Trunks, who raised an arm in front of him, “Trunks, what are you-”

“Let me handle this Naruto. I know I’m capable of taking this guy out.” The saiyan kept his eyes trained at the Demon, leveling his sword at Zabuza.

Zabuza let out a gravelly snicker, “Do you really think that toothpick can handle this beast?” He leveled his broadsword at the saiyan out in front of him.

With tear filled eyes Sakura couldn’t stop glancing back and forth between Trunks and Zabuza, there’s no way Trunks could handle this creep. Kakashi couldn’t even beat him. “TRUNKS!” She shouted, getting the saiyans attention, “Please don’t do this! You can’t possibly beat him, just give u-”

“Shut up Sakura.” Sasuke said, silencing the pinkette. The action surprised Naruto and Trunks, seeing as Sasuke was so withdrawn and uninterested in anything his teammates were doing. In all honesty, the Uchiha was scared. He knew he himself couldn’t stand a chance against Zabuza, and, as much as his pride killed him to admit it, Trunks was more capable of beating the missing nin. Still, the Uchiha had to defeat Trunks. He was his stepping stone to reaching Itachi.  "Trunks," The saiyan turned to the Uchiha. "Don't die." With a smirk Trunks nodded and faced Zabuza.

The two swordsman locked gazes, one not taking their eyes off the other. In their perspective, the battlefield was silent, the only sound coming from the flowing water of the lake.

One second went by.

Then two.

With a battlecry the two charged at each other, sprinting with their swords drawn before they clashed in a spark filled dance of sword slashes. Although Trunks was shorter than Zabuza, and had the smaller sword, it would have only made sense that he would be faster and ultimately maneuver better. But, Zabuza was capable of handling the Kubikiribōchō as if it was made of cardboard, and considering he was the more experienced of the two, it resulted in a stalemate.

The two's blades crashed and locked together, one not being able to push the other back. Not wanting to end up like his clone, Zabuza shifted his weight and kicked Trunks in the stomach, allowing the older man to leap back and gain both distance and composure.

Trunks immediately had to draw up his guard as Zabuza charged in with a sword strike that would cut the saiyan in half. Trunks jumped up high over the blade and landed a kick to Zabuza's face, knocking his head back and making him stumble.

The prince of saiyans made sure to toss a Ki blast Zabuza's way, the latter of who saw it coming and swung his sword down at it. Not wanting to take a risk on having the ball of energy destroy his sword, Zabuza poured his chakra into the Kubikiribōchō’s metal, which allowed it to split the ki ball in half and blow up harmlessly to either side of him.

Trunks was a bit winded, a small gash trailed his left cheek after getting caught with the tip of Zabuza’s blade. Though otherwise, he was good to go.

Zabuza, had a few small nicks littering his chest and arms from getting caught with Trunks sword. "You know kid, only a swordsman with no honor uses powers during a fight." 

Trunks smirked, "Only an  _ idiot _ swordsman doesn't use powers in a fight when he has them."

Zabuza grinned and chuckled, "I like your style kid."

The missing-nin's hands went through various seals. Lucky for him, Trunks’s arrogant saiyan side got the better of him, letting him stand by to let Zabuza finish. ‘Little fool.’ Zabuza grinned as he finished the last sign,

**“Water-Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!” ** Kakashi’s eye widened as he heard a roar resound from the lake. He turned to see two columns of water shoot up in the air, the girths expanding and coiling, until it towered over the saiyan, the top’s taking the shape of a dragon’s head, yellow eyes beaming down on the saiyan.

“Wh-what is that!?” Naruto’s eye’s widened as Sasuke and Sakura’s did. Trunks smirked up at the water dragons that roared and shot down at the saiyan below them.

“TRUNKS LOOK OUT!” Sakura screamed at the saiyan who stood headstrong. 

Time seemed to slow down for the saiyan who held out his right arm at the dragons, hand forward at a ninety-degree angle. A blue sphere of ki, about the size of a volleyball charged up in the saiyans palm, shining like a star in front of the spectators,

**“BURNING STORM!” ** A barrage of blue energy spheres fired from the saiyan’s hand that slammed into the dragons that were just touching down on their target. Each sphere made water in the dragon’s structure splatter apart and instantly evaporate, destroying Zabuza’s Jutsu.

Tazuna stared wide eyed at the display, seeing Trunks effortlessly reduce two dragons into a wave of steam and rain droplets. “Th-That kid’s something!” Team 7 couldn’t disagree.

Zabuza looked both furious and astonished, a strange mix of emotions, “H-How did you just-?” He was cut off as Trunks arms flew in different directions in a blur that was utterly impossible for him to follow.

“ **BURNING ATTACK!” ** The teen shouted as a ball of yellow Ki shot from his hands and at Zabuza, who managed to side-step at the last second and dodged it. “You should work on your aim, kid.” Zabuza scoffed.

“Wasn’t aiming for you.” Trunks leered.

With wide eyes Zabuza turned around to see the blast smash right into his clone and explode, instantly turning the bunshin into steam. This freed Kakashi from his prison.

“You...You little shit!” Zabuza barked in rage at the still smirking saiyan in front of him. He charged in with his broadsword in an attempt to bisect Trunks. The blade came down wide and heavy, in a way that would splatter any normal person.

“TRUNKS MOVE!!” Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Tazuna shouted.

Trunks smirked and held up his right hand, stopping the blade on its edge, dead in its tracks.

Every spectator's eyes widened, none more than Zabuza’s, “H-How? This makes no sense!” This kid, just stopped his Kubikiribōchō with his bare hand, on it’s blade edge. How did his hand not get sliced through? How did the sword not slice through every layer of flesh, muscle, and bone in the boys body and proceed into the ground? It couldn’t be possible.

This boy couldn’t be human.

Zabuza watched as Trunks’ free hand rose up to his torso. “Bye.” The saiyan said simply before a beam of yellow ki shot out into the side of Zabuza’s stomach area and out through the back. The force sent Zabuza slamming into a tree, smearing blood down the bark. Blood poured from his open wound, one that was large enough for one to look through and see what was on the other side. Zabuza coughed and hacked up blood, which quickly soaked into his bandages, turning the white gauzes a deep crimson. Through blurry eyes Zabuza could make out the saiyan standing directly in front of him, hand out reached in preparation of another blast.

For once in his life, Zabuza felt fear.

As the missing-nin stared into the yellow ball of energy emanating from the boys hands, he stuttered “W-Wait kid, y-you don’t have to-” He was silenced by a trio of senben launching into the side of his neck, instantly sending him into darkness.

“What?” Trunks questioned, canceling the blast. He could see Zabuza’s eyes go lifeless as the senben pierced him. The others were just approaching from behind, also wondering just what happened.

Naruto stared at Zabuza’s body, “Is he-”

“Dead? Yes.” A new feminine voice cut in. Everyone looked up to see a hunter-nin dressed out in light-brown platoon sandals with straps in the same colour as his kimono. The nin had long dark hair gathered in a white bun holder, with two locks of hair falling loose to frame his face. The nin hopped down from the branch they were perched upon and landed next to Zabuza, “I’ll take it from here.”

“And who are you?” Trunks asked.

Kakashi answered for him, “It’s a hunter-nin, they’re Anbu that specialize in taking down missing nin.”

The nin nodded, “Precisely. I’ll be taking Momochi Zabuza back to Water Country for dismantling and disposal.”

Trunks cut his eyes and crossed his arms, “Tsk, there’d be nothing left of him if you just let me take care of it.”

“And  _ that  _ would be an issue. We need proof of a nins death for confirmation. But I must be going now, thank you.” The nin made a hand-seal before they disappeared.

After the two left, Naruto turned to Trunks, “Dude that was awesome! You completely manhandled a jonin! Heh, you might be able to take Kakashi in a fight.” Naruto smirked at the last sentence, he looked to his sensei, expecting a reaction out of him.

What he saw, was Kakashi wobble and tip over. Trunks caught the man and was assisted by Naruto, the two boys providing kakashi a shoulder for support.

“What’s wrong Kakashi-sensei?” Sakura asked.

Kakashi heaved deeply, “It seems...like an idiot, I...left my sharingan...exposed for too long. I just need...some rest is all.”

Tazuna smiled and tipped his hat, “Well you all can get plenty of that when you come to my house!” He said joyfully. “Let’s go.”

They all continued their journey.

A/N: Okay so abrupt ending, but I had to end this chapter and get it out to you guys while I had some free time on my hands, otherwise you guys would have to wait a few more weeks. Anyways, hope you enjoyed, LEAVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS IN A REVIEW!


	7. Training

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or Naruto. Only the situations the characters find themselves in.

XXX

Team 7 finally made their trek into Tazuna’s village; a rundown, poor little town, as the old man described it. Despite the indigent setting, the carpenters attitude changed since the beginning of the journey, no longer was he this grumpy, coarse, and rude old guy, but a happy, jovial, and cheerful one. He waved and greeted everyone and even walked with a slight yet notticeable spring to his step. The teen’s and Kakashi could actually see the bridge out in the distance, made visible through the setting sunlight and dissipated mist.

Eventually, the group made their way to a rundown shack that sat on a pier in front of a body of water. With a bright smile, Tazuna outstretched his arms as he opened the door, “Ah, home sweet home!” He walked through the door to be greeted by a pretty young woman in her possibly late twenties, the two sharing a tight hug.

The woman and Tazuna turned to see Team 7 standing by the doorway, Kakashi being supported by Trunks and Naruto’s shoulders. 

Tazuna cleared his voice, “May I introduce you to my daughter, Tsunami?"

The woman bowed, "Thank you for protecting my father. I'm sorry we had to lie about the mission statement."

“Don’t… worry about it.” Kakashi sounded as if he would pass out at any minute, prompting Tsunami to give him a questionable look.

“They’ve been through a lot to get me here.” Tazuna told his daughter, “Lay out some beds and get dinner ready, they deserve it.”

XXX

Elsewhere in Wave Country, rugged screams resounded from a cone-shaped hut, held up between some trees by thick ropes, and had narrow prison-like windows cut into the outside. The pained screams and shouts were enough to drive away any animals within several yards of the hovel.

This, was Zabuza Momochi’s base.

The assassin managed to calm down enough while his subordinate operated on him the best she could with the supplies given. Pain was something that Zabuza could tolerate, and he could shrug off most wounds like kunai stabs, and blunt trauma to most bones and organs, but the severity of  _ this  _ wound made this kind of pain hurt like  _ hell. _

The masked teenager operating on him worked frantically, spending so much time trying to clean their masters wound. The risk of infection was high, and sealing up the hole in the torso was a toilsome effort.

After about three hours of labor, Zabuza having long passed out from the pain, the teen removed their mask to reveal a flawless, feminine, and beautiful face. Her dark-brown eyes scanned over the bloodied medical tools laid out on the table in front of the bed her master rested in, before she gathered them up in a bag to be disposed of. 

As she moved towards the front door she heard a gravelly “H-Haku.” Cough out from behind her. She turned to see her master’s pained face, mouth uncovered and revealing rows of sharp teeth that were grit in an expression of a silent hiss. “H-How… is… it?” Zabuza obviously referred to his injury.

Haku’s eyes trailed down her masters stomach that was wrapped completely with bandages. A small stain of blood on the lower right edge was the biggest hint of where the injury resided. “It’s… better, to put it lightly.” She said as she stood back next to her master's bed. Zabuza seemed as if he was struggling to sit up, only for his body to deny it, “It would be unwise to move  _ at all _ in your condition. It’s by God’s grace that I managed to keep you alive.” 

The man stopped struggling, but that didn’t stop him from letting his right hand come up over the point on his bandages where his wound was. With his index and middle fingers he let them come down ever so slowly, just to give it the lightest prod- “AAAAUUGGGHHH!!” The demon of the mist roared.

“Still tender.” The girl said, face still blank. Zabuza glared at her in response. She continued, “It appears that at best-case scenario, you have an ugly scar on your waist, worst case, you have to live with a hole in your torso. I tried to seal up the wound as best I could using synthetic tissue, but that doesn’t mean your body won’t try to heal over it, which it should. You also got lucky in the fact that the boy didn't issue a larger attack, because by mere  _ centimeters _ he missed your kidneys and large-intestine.”

At that Zabuza chuckled. “Ain’t that a bitch. I must be doing something right in this world if even the Gods themselves spared me.”

Haku nodded and smiled. Her master being happy always made her happy. (A/N: In case you guys couldn’t pick up on it, Haku is a girl in my fic. Why? Because I said so.) She noticed that her Gi was splattered with blood, so she left the hut to get herself cleaned up, while also disposing of the tools.

XXX

Kakashi was lying in a bed mat on the floor, having long dozed off in a relieving rest. His Genin were gathered around his bed. Naruto, Sakura, and Trunks were chatting amongst themselves on how cool it was that Trunks thrashed Zabuza. Trunks, being the modest person that he was, tried to play it off like it was nothing, only pushing the two into trying to convince him otherwise. 

Sasuke, sat away from the group in silence, their conversation eating away at him the longer it dragged on. Was he the only one bothered by how strong Trunks was? He couldn’t be the only person concerned with the thought of just what the Briefs boy was truly capable of. 

Where did he get that kind of power? And saying it was  _ just  _ because of his ki was bullshit. 

After suffering his loss at the hands of the newcomer, the Uchiha spent much of his time in the Konoha libraries, doing as much research as he could on the history of Ki and trying to dig up the name ‘Briefs’ anywhere in the records. 

The latter, proved impossible. 

What he managed to dig up on ki, was that it was something of a natural form of energy. It was something that every being had, so technically... he could use it. But for a shinobi to use ki they would have to master senjutsu, as its nature was similar to ki. If a chakra user attempted to manipulate both, they could die. Though it was said that Ki, while destructive in nature, it didn’t hold the same flexibility that chakra had. 

But there had to be more to it than that. Trunks was no sage, he couldn’t use chakra. What made him so powerful with ki? How could he use it without dying? A bloodline-limit perhaps?

Kakashi suddenly snapped upright in his bed, fully awake and visible eye wide open. His Genin were effectively startled. He looked as if he was deep in thought, something bothering him down to his bones, ‘Why… why does it feel like... we missed something? Trunks surely killed Zabuza, if not then that Anbu did. I shouldn’t be feeling this way if Zabuza  _ really  _ is dead.’

“Kakashi-sensei, are you alright? What’s wrong?” Sakura asked.

“Do any of you remember just what the Hunter-nin did with Zabuza’s body?” Hatake asked, still looking down at his bedsheets.

Naruto scratched his face in thought, “He picked up Zabuza and took him somewhere. How are we supposed to know what he did after that?”

“That’s the issue.” Kakashi said, head rising as things began to make sense. “Hunter-nin usually work on the body  _ immediately  _ after capture, in the place where the subject died in order to leave zero room for error. And then, there’s the weapons that the nin used. Do you remember what they were?”

Sasuke’s eyes widened, “Senbon-needles.”

Kakashi nodded, “That’s right. Senben needles don’t kill a target unless they hit a vital organ, and a properly trained Anbu is capable of using them to shut down a body to simulate death.”

The genin’s eyes widened.

“What are you babbling about?” Tazuna grumbled as he and Tsunami walked into the room, “Trunks demolished that assassin, blew a hole right through him.”

“That’s another issue.” Kakashi noted, “Judging from the point on the body that Trunks blasted him, he couldn’t have hit anything vital. Best case scenario, he only took out a kidney. Not to mention that the heat could have cauterized the wound instantly.”

“What are you saying?” Sasuke asked, although he knew the answer, he just didn’t want to hear the truth.

Kakashi’s eye narrowed, “Zabuza’s still alive.”

“WHAT!?” Sakura, Naruto, and Tazuna shouted. Tsunami gasped and Sasuke’s eyes widened.

“Damn it!” Trunks fist slammed into the floor, startling everyone in the room, “I should have blasted him when I had the chance. I was so stupid.” He growled in anger.

Sakura’s first reaction was to calm him, “I-it’s not your fault Trunks, you just didn’t know.”

Naruto nodded, “Yeah man, how were any of us supposed to know that creep would survive that.”

“It shouldn’t matter if Zabuza’s alive, should it? I mean, if he comes back Trunks could handle that bastard right?” Tazuna asked Kakashi.

“Zabuza’s a jonin. It’s no doubt that since he knows what Trunks is capable of, he’ll have a different strategy.” Kakashi noted that a small smirk was on Naruto’s face, ‘Hm, it seems Naruto is glad Zabuza is alive. I guess that means he has another shot at him.’

With a shake in her voice Sakura said, “But wait Kakashi-sensei, you said that your body would be out for at least a week. What are we supposed to do if you can’t help us? We don’t know what Zabuza will do next.”

Kakashi chuckled, making her raise an eyebrow, “I may be down, but that doesn’t mean I can’t train you.” Naruto’s eyes brightened. 

“It doesn’t matter how much you tra in, nothing you do will ever make a difference.” A new voice cut in. Everyone turned to the doorway to see a young boy around the age of 8 or 9, standing with a look of disdain on his face, he wore green overalls with a yellow shirt and a pair of sandals. He also wore a blue and white striped hat with a long brim.

“Who the hell are you!?” Naruto snapped. How dare this kid mock his team.

“Inari!” Tazuna held out his arms joyfully for his grandson to run into.

“Welcome back grandpa!” Inari said as he hugged his grandfather

Tsunami placed her hands on her hips as she approached her son, “That was very rude Inari!” She scolded her son.

Inari passed a glare at Team 7, “Mom don’t you see that these people are gonna die?! Gato and his men will find them and kill them!”

“Inari!”

Naruto growled and stood up, “What did you say, brat?! Listen up, you ever heard of a hero? Well that’s what we are, this Gato or Blato, or whatever doesn’t stand a chance against us! Believe it!”

Inari scoffed, “There’s no such thing as a hero. You’re just full of stupid ideas!” 

“Why you little-!” Naruto was about to charge at Inari before he was restrained by Trunks.

“If you wanna stay alive then you’ll go back where you came from.” Inari turned his back on everyone and walked to the door.

“Inari,” Tazuna called out, “Where ya going?”

The boy opened the door, not turning around as he spoke, “I’m going to my room. I want to be alone.” He left.

XXX

Naruto was storming up the stairs, followed by Trunks, “Who does that twerp think he is? I’m gonna put him in his place right now.”

“Naruto you’re overreacting. He’s just a kid, calm down.” Trunks tried to reason with the blonde.

Naruto shook his head, “No way, I’m not letting that brat get away with-” The two were interrupted by the sound of sobs and sniffles coming from down the hallway.

Sharing a glance, the two made a silent agreement to investigate. With light footsteps, the two made their way down the hall to a slightly cracked open door. Peeking inside, they saw Inari by his ocean-view window, sobbing over something while saying, “Daddy.”

Feeling rather dispirited, the two made another silent agreement to leave.

XXX

The next morning, the four Genin found themselves standing in a forest in front of their sensei. Kakashi, still not being able to stand on his own, supported himself with a set of wooden crutches.

"We're here now, Kakashi, so what do you want?" Sasuke rudely asked his sensei.

"We're gonna do a little training exercise today, Sasuke." Kakashi replied, seemingly ignoring the Uchiha's rudeness.

"So what's this training we're gonna be doing, Sensei?" Sakura asked. Kakashi’s eye curled up in a smile.

"Well, I thought we'd do something fun today." Hatake threw a hand out behind him to the trees, "We're going to do a little tree climbing." The Genin’s expressions were a bit…  _ underwhelming _ , to say the least.

"Could… you repeat that?" Sakura deadpanned, unsure if she'd heard Kakashi-sensei right. Did he seriously want them to climb trees?

"How is tree climbing training?" Naruto asked, voicing the thoughts of everyone there.

"Oh!" Kakashi sounded as if he'd remembered just why it was training, as if they believed that, "Sorry, I guess I forgot to mention, no hands allowed."

"Uh… No hands?" Naruto asked with a scrunched face. "Then how the hell are we supposed to climb the tree?" The other two nodded with his assessment.

"You use chakra. Shinobi generally regard the feet as the hardest place to channel chakra, even more so since the feet are usually covered by sandals. Thus it is that much harder because you have to force chakra through the rubber. Of course, it varies from person to person, but I guarantee that all three of you will fall at least once." The masked jounin turned to the tree behind him and proceeded to walk straight at it. When he got to it, Kakashi just kept walking, straight up at a 90-degree angle. He finally reached the lowest branch, which hang high over their heads. 

The four teens gaped at the ease at which their leader had done it.

"Trust me," he called down to them, "this isn't as easy as I make it look. On the plus side though, when you're done with this and get all the way to the top, your chakra control will be much better and you'll be that much stronger!" Then he dropped three kunai down to the chakra wielding members of the group and they got to work.

"Um, Kakashi-sensei, what about me, what should I do?" Trunks asked as the jonin dropped from his perch above and landed gracefully beside the Z fighter.

Kakashi took a moment to dust off his pants, “Hmmm, well I guess it wouldn’t be fair for everyone else to get special training, so you come with me.” He nodded his head for Trunks to follow him, which the demi-saiyan did.

The two were in a section of forest that was a good distance away from the three doing the tree exercise.

Kakashi stood out in front of Trunks, "Now, I think it's undeniable that your powerful.  _ Extremely  _ powerful. But," The saiyan prepared himself for what the man was about to say. "you lack tactics." Kakashi finished, prompting Trunks to raise a questionable eyebrow. Kakashi continued, "That was something I tried explaining to you during the bell exercise.” Kakashi raised his hand to silence Trunks, who was just beginning to open his mouth, ”Although you do have the mentality of killing your opponents, most seasoned shinobi have that mentality. What sets you apart is that during combat you don’t fight with any particular plan in mind. You’re much like Naruto, in that you go into a fight hoping to dish out a blind beatdown on your opponents.”

Trunks couldn’t deny that. That was all his master Gohan taught him. He always did say that the only real ‘tactical’ Z-fighter was Piccolo, and even the Namekian hadn’t found the time to teach his master any of those tactical thinking skills. Or so Gohan told him.

“Get the picture?” Kakashi asked. The Jonin decided to further explain his point, “You see, the winner of a battle isn’t always determined by how strong the opponent is, but by who is the better strategist. In some cases, the weakest Genin could be promoted to Chunin or even Jonin based on his battle intellect alone.”

Trunks nodded, “I get it. But what do you want me to do?”

“Since I’m not in the best of conditions, I can’t really train you as seriously as I want to. But, to get you adjusted, we’ll be doing a simple hide and go seek game.”

“Hide and go seek?” Trunks asked, getting more confused. How would hide and go seek help him out in any way?

“You heard me. Hide and go seek against me will help you learn how to hunt down an opponent that you can’t see or sense. Most shinobi can learn how to conceal their chakra, as a means of throwing off Sensory-type ninja. If you  _ don’t know _ how to deal with a ninja that can conceal their presence, you’d be in a world of danger. Like I said before, I’m not in the best of conditions so consider this, me going easy on you.” The man disappeared in a swirl of leaves, leaving Trunks alone.

The saiyan sighed, not too thrilled about this method of training. “Oh well.” He told himself. He wasn’t getting anywhere by burning daylight. He began to roam the forest in search of his sensei.

XXX

Zabuza lay resting in his bed, sound asleep with his tool sitting in a seat right next to him, not willing to leave the Demon’s side for a second. Haku was now dressed in a pink Kimono, a black choker around her neck. She let her hair out of it’s earlier bun to let it flow down her back, a set of bangs framing her face. She too appeared to be asleep, only, that wasn’t the case. A pin could drop half a mile away from her and she’d be aware of it.

Her brown eyes snapped open to the sound of the wooden shack doors opening. Zabuza’s too. Even in his injured state, he still pulled a kunai to kill anyone that drew near. 

"Hehehe," the new arrivals voice chuckled, making abuza want to spring out of bed and snap the bastards neck. Gatou was a short man, suited in a pinstripe suit, a walking stick, small tinted glasses, and hired guns. "To think that the 'great demon' Zabuza, could get his ass handed to him by a god-damn  _ kid _ !"

"How'd you know about that?" Zabuza growled, he knew that Haku would've mentioned he was injured, but she wouldn’t say by who.

The businessman laughed, waving his cane, "I got eyes in all the right places."

"There wasn't anyone else at that lake." The disabled shinobi ground out. "If there was, I would know.”

Now Gato laughed outright. "Whoever said that my eyes were living? Ever heard of cameras? No, of course you haven’t. You damn shinobi don’t really give a shit about technology do you? Always using that weird hoodoo voodoo of yours to get the job done," the magnate made gestures with his hands. "When will you learn that the ultimate weapon is  _ money _ !? Look, thanks to  _ money _ , I can afford people like you!  _ And _ I can bribe fools into doing what I want! No blackmail or black  _ magic _ needed! Face it, you're outdated!"

Haku stood up, back still to Gato, "You’ve said enough. Leave,  _ now. _ " Haku’s voice was laced with venom. Any normal person would back the hell up, but Gato felt confident with his ronin by his side.

"Heh, how you gonna make me?" Gato sneered, he began walking up to Zabuza, foolishly outreaching his hand to the injured man.

What he didn’t expect was his forearm to be snatched up in a bone crushing grip. “ _ You will not lay a hand on him!”  _ Haku hissed as Gato screamed in pain.

“G-Get this bitch off me before she breaks my arm!” Gato called to his samurai who rushed in with their swords.

Faster than the two could blink, their own blades were pressed up against their necks with the handles aimed to the floor.

‘H-How did she-’

‘I didn’t even see her move!’ 

Gato stumbled away from the woman who had his men in a position where she could behead them both in an instant. “Do  _ not  _ test me I’m in a  _ very  _ foul mood.” Haku said, debating with herself if she should just murder the three maggots right now.

“Let’em go Haku.” Zabuza said, prompting the teenager to release the men, who scrambled back over to their boss.

Gato put on a bold facade, a not-very-successful one at that, before saying, “Y-You just remember who you're working for! You still need me to cover for you. I swear if you screw up again, I’m cutting you off for good!” The man salvaged as much pride as he could before walking out of the hut, rubbing his sore arm as he left. The two ronin passed a nervous glance to Haku before leaving out as well.

Zabuza watched as his weapon slammed the door shut behind them. Her killing intent still lingered in the air.

"You didn't have to do that Haku." the assassin told his weapon. He lifted the covers on his bed to reveal the kunai that he could have killed Gato with in an instant. The removal of the covers revealed the aftermath of the fight with Trunks. Luckily the wound was already patched up, meaning there was no need to change the bandages for bleeding.

"Zabuza-san, what are you going to do about the one who did that to you?"

Zabuza looked thoughtful for a minute, then he looked at Haku and told her, "I'm going to let you handle him."

"Me?"

"Yeah. You wouldn’t be able to take him in a straight up fight, but with that Kekkei Genkai of yours, the bastard won’t stand a chance.”

Haku nodded, her master believed in her. She’d kill Trunks Briefs one way or another.

XXX

The sun was beginning to set over the forest and Trunks still couldn’t find Kakashi. The son of Vegeta could have sworn he combed every square inch of this forest within a mile circumference, with 0 luck. Every rock, every tree, every bush he could have sworn he looked behind. The fact that the sun was setting would only mean that this assignment would get infinitely harder.

Kakashi watched the demi-saiyan from his hiding spot. He’d been at this game for over six hours, in the same spot, listening to Naruto’s curses and wails echo from every time he fell off the tree. The jonin actually had enough time to  _ go back  _ to where Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were to check-up on them, commend Sakura on being the only one to complete the exercise, and  _ come back  _ to his exact hiding spot.

The jonin sighed, he didn’t want to be out there all night.

“Trunks.” The saiyan heard Kakashi’s voice. He looked all around to see where it was coming from, but it appeared as if it was coming from all directions. “A shinobi must be able to notice  _ any  _ sort of changes in their surroundings. Whether it’s a broken twig, a moved pebble, a scrape in the dirt, to even the air around them.”

“Thanks for the tip.” Trunks deadpanned. He looked at the skies and saw that the sun completely set, turning the forest around him a haunting black with the only sunlight coming from the moon and stars. “But honestly I don’t think it’s possible for me to take your advice right now. Ki doesn’t give you x-ray vision.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Looks like we’ll just have to try this again another day.” At the last line Trunks heard the lazy jonin’s voice right behind him, effectively startling the saiyan. In all honesty, he almost blasted the man. 

Once getting his bearings together, Trunks gave an apologetic bow, “Sorry I couldn’t pass the test Kakashi.” Kakashi gave him a clap on the back and an eye smile.

“Well, lucky for you I wasn’t a shinobi that wanted you dead. But don’t worry about it. If there’s one positive I can give you is that you didn’t give up. You kept looking for a whole  _ six  _ hours. That shows discipline. But anyways, let’s get to Tazuna’s. We might just beat Sasuke and Naruto there.”

XXX

Sasuke and Naruto finally dragged themselves back to Tazuna’s house. The two boys were training since the start of the assignment and they spent  _ literally  _ the entire day trying to complete it. The fact that Sakura managed to complete it on her first try only pushed their motivation levels to the max.

The door to the house opened to the two boys, using each others shoulders for support.

"And then when you collect all seven of them, it summons a dragon that’ll grant you any wish!" Trunks was happily stuffing his face while telling the household the legend of the seven mystical Dragon Balls. Even though everyone listened, it all sounded like a load of bull. Summoning a dragon that grants wishes? And it just so happens that Trunks never got to see it for himself? Despite how far fetched the story was, it provided great entertainment at the dinner table.

Trunks trailed off when he saw Naruto and Sasuke. The two boys looked like crap to say the least.

"Wow. What happened to you two?" Tazuna asked, noticing the boys as well, "You both look like you got run over by a steamroller."

"Guess they were  _ training _ all day." A voice mumbled. All heads turned to Inari, who hadn’t said a word at the dinner table until then. "Why are you guys even still around? Why are you even trying to stand against Gato."

"Because it's what we were contracted to do," Sakura answered, not getting why the boy was so nasty to them.

"Then you're all a bunch of idiots!" He shouted.

“Inari!” Tsunami gasped in shock.

"You're all gonna die like everyone else!" He got up from the table and stormed off, slamming the kitchen door behind him.

Tazuna sighed, "Sorry about that. He's been that way ever since his father died a while back."

"His father?" Kakashi asked simply.

Tazuna nodded, "Yes, but not his biological one. The man Inari called father was a man, a  _ great  _ man, named Kaiza who came to us from, well, out of nowhere. His real father died a year or two before, but not before he and Tsunami had Inari."

"Inari never really did get what it meant to die," Tsunami added. "Then my husband showed up and Inari found someone he could rely on and talk to." She smiled wistfully. "After seeing how those two got along, it was only natural that I marry Kaiza and let Inari have a father again."

"Those were happy times," Tazuna continued with a nostalgic smile. "Inari idolized his father like every little boy does."

"What happened?" Kakashi asked, knowing exactly where this conversation was headed.

Tazuna scowled. "Gato happened. That man moved in and practically enslaved us. Before long, all of us were in his pocket. Kaiza was one of the few who openly opposed him. In payback for that defiance, Gato had Kaiza executed. That stole Inari's light and he's been like this ever since."

"That's so sad," Sakura said sullenly. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose your father at such a young age.

‘.....’ Trunks head was lowered, his face shadowed by his lavender hair.

"Tsk. If you ask me, he's just a spoiled little brat," Naruto spat, head resting on his hand on the table.

"Naruto! How can you say that?" Sakura asked scandalized.

"Yeah!" Inari yelled, opening the door again. "What would  _ you _ know about losing someone!?" In a heartbeat, Naruto had picked Inari up by the front of his shirt and slammed him into the wall, holding him there with one arm.

"Naruto!" Kakashi snapped. "Put him down now." He was promptly ignored. Trunks considered stopping it, but decided not to. That kid probably needed to hear this.

"You think I don't know?" Naruto growled, his voice low and dangerous, his anger reddened face inches from Inari's pale terrified one. "Get over yourself, twerp. You think it's cool to sit around and cry all day!? Maybe instead of moping around all day you should get off your ass and  _ do something  _ about it, you little  _ coward _ !" 

"You don't know what it's like!" Inari repeated. Naruto pushed him harder into the wall. One could hear the crackling and snapping of wood throughout the kitchen

"Believe me, I  _ do _ know!  _ You _ have a family to come home to every day!  _ I'm _ hated by everyone in my village!" The blond shouted. He dropped Inari, letting the terrified kid drop to the ground where he curled up, terrified tears streaming down his face. "I'm going to bed." Naruto mumbled. He jerked the door open and closed it, more like  _ slamming  _ it, which made some of the dishes rattle.

The kitchen was silent, the only sound coming from Inari’s sniffles. The boy got up and left out as well.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked her Jonin.

The man took a moment, taking a long breath, “Everyone, go to bed. Now.” Sasuke and Sakura nodded. Trunks just got up from his seat and silently left from the room.

The son of Vegeta made his way down the hall, following the sound of Inari’s sniffles. He was led to a door, that door leading outside to the pier that overlooked the body of water the house sat on. Inari could be seen sitting on the edge of the planks, looking down at the swaying water below him.

“You know, I think out of everyone in that house, I know what you're going through better than any of them.” Trunks said as he took a seat next to Inari.

Inari wiped his nose clean with the back of his hand, “What makes you say that?” Inari said bitterly. As if anyone could  _ really  _ understand.

Trunks kept his eyes trained out over the ocean, the reflection of the hundreds of stars shining in the sky giving it the presence of diamonds in the water. “Well for one thing, like you I come from a land that’s terrorised... by  _ two  _ people, actually. Psycho’s who would go on murder sprees for no good reason.” He used the word people  _ very  _ lightly. Inari shrugged him off, prompting Trunks to continue, “I  _ also  _ never really knew my father. He was murdered when I was a baby... by the same people that brought my home to ruin.” This got Inari’s attention, making the young boys eyes widen in curiosity, “When I met someone who I could call my best friend, no not even, someone I could call a  _ father, _ who trained me, we would stand against those bastards whenever we got the chance.” Trunks expression became downcast. “But we lost  _ every single  _ time, and the people they killed would die in vain. And then...” 

Inari noticed that Trunks looked as if he wanted to continue, but needed to find the strength for it, “Wh-what happened next?” The boy asked.

“ _ They _ killed him.”

Inari gasped, eyes widening in shock. Out of his peripherals Trunks could see he was really breaching the boy. “B-But, if that really happened, then why are you so-”

“Happy?” Trunks finished for the boy. Inari nodded. “Well, even despite all of that. There was one thing that kept me going. One thing that I knew couldn’t die and wouldn’t leave me.”

Inari found himself asking,”What?”

“Hope.” Trunks turned to the boy.

“Hope?” Inari repeated, hoping he heard right. Trunks nodded.

“As long as you have hope, there’s always a chance for things to get better. No matter how bad things seem, or how much you think the world has ended. You just have to keep fighting.” Inari took a moment to let things sink in. He just learned that there were two people out there that knew exactly how he felt. Maybe he wasn’t as alone as he thought. Maybe there was a chance for his land to be free.

Things seemed just a little brighter for Inari. And he had Naruto and Trunks to thank for that. He and the Demi-saiyan sat and stared out over the ocean.

Unknown to them, Kakashi was on the other side of the door, having listened in on the two boys.

XXX

A/N: Okay so this chapter was just a bunch of filler, but it was necessary to set up for the inevitable bridge battle next chapter. Now, to the reviewers who want me to basically have Trunks one-shot every enemy, no. I will NOT do that. Don’t whine to me about it, you will not win that battle. 

Don’t do it.

**Don’t.**

  
  
  
  
  



	8. Battle For The Bridge

XXX

One week had passed since the beginning of the Genin’s training session. Trunks actually managed to find the masked Jonin of the team after the fourth day of training. It wasn’t exactly  _ good  _ progress, but it  _ was  _ progress, so it meant that he’d only get better at the exercise as time went on. Naruto and Sasuke managed to get exponentially better at the tree climbing exercise, managing to make it to the top of their respective trees with fewer and fewer kunai marks in the bark. On the sixth day, the two managed to successfully learn how to walk up the trees without fail. 

Naruto, having grown exhausted, was allowed to sleep in by Kakashi, the jonin feeling both merciful and impressed by the blondes hard work. The rest of the team was brought to Tazuna’s bridge; both to keep watch, and take a break from training.

In all honesty though, the three might as well have been training. Tazuna decided to put Sasuke, Sakura, and especially Trunks to work on certain sections of the bridge. The elderly carpenter hadn’t believed Trunks when the saiyan said that he could lift the steel beams and concrete blocks, but when he showed he could, the old man had to take advantage of it. No one seemed bothered by a boy lifting multi-ton weighted materials. If they were, they didn’t show it. The workers may have just been so relieved at the quickened progress that they overlooked it.

After Sakura and Sasuke struggled to move their load of (lesser weighted) concrete blocks, the pinkette glared at her sensei who was sitting atop one of the giant blocks that Trunks set up.

“You know sensei, you could get down here and help us!” Sakura fumed at the Jonin reading his Icha-Icha book.

Kakashi didn’t even spare her a side glance, choosing to turn to the next page, “Eh, no thanks. You guys are doing a swell job on your own.” His hand snapped up to catch a steel rod that was thrown at him. Courtesy of Sakura. The man’s nonchalant attitude only making her growl.

X

Little did the people on the bridge know, they were being watched by Zabuza and Haku. The two stood atop the crane that hung high over the construction zone. The assassin stood with a ragged scar ever present on his waist. A permanent reminder of the boy he would kill today. It was because of him that the innocent men who helped work on this bridge would die as well.

He turned to his partner, the young girls face hidden behind the porcelain Anbu mask, standing as stoic as a statue, “Are you ready Haku?”

She nodded, “Yes Zabuza-san.” Her eyes were trained on the working men on the ground below her.

Zabuza grinned from under his bandages, the nin rolling his shoulders, “Time to complete our mission.”

X

Kakashi sat up from his spot, glancing around. Sasuke and Trunks noticed the man was bothered by something, causing the two to stop what they were doing. Sakura noticed as well, picking up on Sasuke’s actions.

She grew worried, “What’s wrong, Kakashi-sensei?”

The man hopped down to the ground, putting his Icha-Icha book behind him, “Something...something’s not right.”

As if on cue, a series of thuds could be heard from the open section of the bridge. Tazuna was the first to run towards it, followed by Team 7. 

What they found… was not a pretty sight.

The corpses of six workers lay sprawled on the ground. Their throats slashed or their necks twisted at horrible angles. Tazuna gasped and felt the urge to gag, “Wh-what happened?” Although he had a pretty good idea.

A thick mist began to envelop the area, obscuring their view just as it had a week ago. Kakashi whipped out a kunai, already knowing something bad was about to happen, “Trunks, Sakura, Sasuke, get ready!” The group circled around Tazuna, protecting the man as their mission called for.

_ “Hehehe.” _ A deep voice chuckled menacingly through the mist. “ _ Sorry to keep you waiting, Kakashi. I see you’re missing a brat.” _

The Hatake scoffed, “Should it matter? I still have the one that mopped the floor with you.” This made Trunks smirk. He was waiting on Zabuza to poke his head out so he could blow it off.

_ “Maybe.”  _ Zabuza started, _ “But now that I know what he’s capable of, things are gonna play little differently.” _

The mist thinned out enough for Team 7 to notice they were surrounded by seven Zabuza’s. Sasuke’s arms and legs began to tremble, which Zabuza picked up on, “Well what do you know. This one’s still trembling.”

A smirk slowly crossed Sasuke’s lips, “Trembling? Cause I’m scared? No. I’m trembling… because I’m excited!”

Kakashi turned to Sasuke, “Go for it Sasuke.”

In an instant the Zabuza clones were slashed apart, bursting in a splash of water. The Uchiha was back in his exact spot, kunai gripped in both hands.

“Oooh, so he could tell they were all clones. Impressive. Looks like I’ll have a bit of fun with you.” Zabuza said as he and Haku stepped forward.

Trunks pulled his sword, falling into a battle stance.

Zabuza nodded to Haku, giving him a silent confirmation. The girl stepped to the side before twirling around, picking up speed until her body became a mini-twister of death that maneuvered directly to Trunks.

The saiyan stood headstrong as Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura leapt back, bringing Tazuna with them. Trunks swung his sword just as the twister closed the distance with him, the blade coming to contact with two senbon needles that Haku used to stop and lock the sword cold. The girl found her arms being steadily forced back from the saiyans superior strength. The edge of the blade inching closer to her mask. 

Haku sent a swift kick into the saiyan stomach to break free. The two rushed back into a clash of metal, Trunks sword versus Haku’s twin senben, that of which she could fluidly use to block or deflect the saiyan’s strikes.

‘So, he’s able to keep up with Haku’s speed too eh.’ Zabuza noted, seeing the saiyan able to clash with his partner just as protean as he could against himself that short time ago.

Kakashi smirked before turning to Sakura, “Guard Tazuna. Me and Sasuke can take Zabuza.”

The pinkette nodded, “Yes sensei.” She turned to the bridge builder, “Stay behind me.” She whispered.

Zabuza pulled his sword, and rushed at Kakashi and Sasuke.

XXX

Naruto sat up in bed, a loud yawn escaping his lips. He smacked his mouth, not being able to stand the dryness that prolonged it. He removed his covers and stood up, stretching the muscles in his arms, legs, and back.

He quickly noticed something was off. He looked to the empty beds next to him and growled, “Those bastards left me!” He hurriedly got dressed and rushed out of the room. But first, he needed to find Tsunami and ask where his team was.

XXX

Inari stood helplessly as he watched the samurai drag his mom away. The boy’s morning was going just fine until Gato’s hired guns busted his family's door in and demanded his mother come with them. It was by his mother’s begging that the men hadn’t slain young Inari, the situation having brought the boy to a sobbing wreck on the front doorstep.

“Why? Why am I so weak.” He tried to wipe his tears away. As his mom was dragged further away from him, he began to think back on what he was told a week ago.

Naruto’s livid face appeared in his vision,  “ _ Maybe instead of moping around all day you should get off your ass and do something about it! _ "

Then Trunks face, “ _ No matter how bad things seem, you just have to keep fighting _ .”

Inari wiped his face, and stood back to his feet. Maybe it was time to take their advice. He shakily clenched his fists. His brow furrowed, “Hey!” He shouted, getting the samurai’s attention. He was scared but he wasn’t going to back down now, “Let...my...mother...go...NOW!” With a battlecry he charged at the thugs who grinned and pulled their swords.

“This kids got guts.” One of them said.

“Too bad they're gonna wind up all over the ground.” His partner scoffed.

Tsunami looked back and forth between the ronin and her son, rightfully fearing for Inari’s life, “Inari DOOON’T!” She screamed. 

The boy was closing the distance, he didn’t care if he died. He wasn’t gonna stand idly by while these bastards dragged his mother off to god knows where. He saw the ronin set their swords in a way that would slice him into three pieces in one swipe each. His eyes shut.

“ **Wind Style: Air Bullets!”**

“What the hell!” 

Inari’s eyes snapped open to a samurai getting assaulted by a flurry of air balls, blasting him off his feet and sending him into the body of water that the boys house sat on. The remaining samurai watched with alarmed eyes as his partner was blown away.

The ronin could hear a battle cry coming from behind Inari. The second he turned, all he could catch was a fist and the colors of orange and blue before his vision went black.

XXX

Trunks sent an elbow into Haku’s stomach, knocking the girl back and prompting her to throw a trio of senben she had set between her fingers. The saiyan easily deflected the needles with his sword.

“Come on, I could’ve easily ended this fight a while ago.” Trunks said matter-of-factly. He didn’t sense much evil or malice from this woman, which was why he didn’t just take her head off. If she kept pushing this, he’d be forced to take his gloves off.

Deep breaths escaped Haku’s lips, she was exhausted and low on energy, while Trunks was as fresh as a daisy. She knew that this boy had her outclassed and could have killed her any number of times, so she’d need to unleash her trump card to even the odds.

As the fight drew on, Trunks failed to realize that one of Haku’s objectives wasn’t exactly to win, but to draw the saiyan further away from his team and the battle with Zabuza. She was going to need a bit of open space if she was gonna pull off this kekkei genkai, and seeing as the teen was arrogant enough to let Zabuza pull off an attack, she had no doubt that he would do the same for her.

Her right hand shifted through a set of hand signs. Trunks eyes narrowed as the temperature around him fell exponentially low. Hearing the sound of something shifting coming from behind him, Trunks turned to see a sheet of water rise up and quickly freeze into a mirror that hung about a foot or so off the ground. “What?” The saiyan murmured as he turned all around him, seeing slabs of ice formed mirrors surrounding him from all sides, even the top, leaving the possibility of flying out null. “Are these mirrors?” Fog emanated from the prince’s mouth.

“Yes.” Haku’s voice came from from all around the saiyan, making Trunks swivel and pivot around out of fear of getting a kunai in his back. “This jutsu lets me reflect my image on to any mirror I choose.” Just as she said, an image of Haku appeared on every mirror surrounding Trunks. “It doesn’t matter how fast you are.” The images held up a set of senben, “You will not escape.”

XXXX

Naruto dusted his hands, grinning as he stood over the samurai that he beat to a pulp. Luckily the other one drifted to shore so he  _ might  _ not have drowned. Uzumaki turned around to see Inari and his mom in a tight embrace. 

Inari let go of his mom the second he saw Naruto, “Y-You saved us, thank you.” He felt a hand rustle his hair.

“Don’t sweat it kid. Actually, I should be apologizing.” Naruto said as he scratched the back of his head. Inari raised a questionable brow. “Me tearing you down like that last night. It was kind of uncalled for. Not to mention, you actually proved me wrong. You were really brave!” Naruto grinned.

The words made Inari tear up. He tried to keep himself from crying, which he said he would never do again, but the kid couldn’t help himself. “Naruto… thanks.” He sniffled. 

The blonde turned on his heel and ran for the bridge, hoping he could catch up to his team.

XXX

Trunks was hopping around the mirror dome in a blur, trying his best to avoid the endless flurry of senben needles that were thrown at him by Haku, the girl seeming to instantly hop between whatever mirror she so chose. The needles weren’t piercing skin, falling right off, but they still stung when they connected, almost like a bee sting. 

“Damn!” Trunks growled as another three needles hit his shoulder, being just a little too fast for him to dodge. Haku wasn’t lying when she said that this jutsu would give her an edge over the saiyan. Even with his superhuman eyes, he found it almost impossible to track the girls movements. This fight got 10x harder, and he only had himself to blame for being cocky.

After a needle shot at him from the front, Trunks predicted the next attack to come from the back, prompting him to roll to the side and effectively dodge it. The saiyan caught a glimpse of Haku’s face in a mirror and shot a ki blast at it, destroying it.

The mirror reformed instantly.

“I’ve never faced a fighter like you before,” Haku’s visage appeared in all of the mirrors, ending the barrage for the time being. “None of my senben appear to pierce you, and somehow you use a form of energy that isn’t the standard for any shinobi. You’re also the only opponent I’ve faced that would allow himself to be put in this situation.”

Trunks chuckled, “Yeah, well, I do admit that's become a bad habit. But what can I say, it runs in the family." His eyes narrowed as Haku pulled more senben, "I can keep this up all day. Keep'em coming!" Trunks challenged as he went back to his earlier routine.

XXX

Kakashi and Zabuza were locked in a clash, kunai vs sword. The scarecrow showed his expertise as a shinobi by utilizing his tiny kunai to fend off Zabuza’s Kubikiribocho. It was only because the Hatake’s sharingan and  _ marginal  _ help from Sasuke that the two actually held the upper hand over the assassin. 

Zabuza swung his sword to attempt slicing Kakashi in half, but the silver-haired man leaned all the way back to dodge it. The Demon of the mist decided to carry the momentum of the blade all the way around to hit the Uchiha who just appeared behind the assassin.

Sasuke managed to see the attack coming and performed a back flip to just barely miss the tip of the blade. As the Uchiha landed on his feet, Kakashi managed to get a look at his face, or more directly, his eyes.

Both irises were red, the same color as his own, only, in his left eye there was one tomoe, while there were two in his right eye. ‘So, Sasuke managed to awaken his Sharingan.’ Kakashi thought, with a smirk forming behind his mask. He was starting to feel a little pity for Zabuza. There wasn’t a way he was gonna win here.

Sasuke’s hands went through his most familiar set of signs before his fingers came to his mouth “ **Fire-Style: Fireball Jutsu!** ” A fireball spewed from the Uchiha’s mouth and at the assassin. Zabuza stood with wide eyes as the fireball engulfed him. Kakashi managed to hop out of the way at the last second. Hatake turned to the spot that Zabuza once was and immediately knew something was wrong, his Sharingan having caught it.

Momochi managed to dodge the fireball just as Kakashi had. He and Sasuke turned their heads to see  _ two  _ Zabuza’s sprinting at them from inside the mist. One went for Kakashi and another, the clone, lunged at Sasuke.

The real Zabuza leapt into the air and came down on Kakashi with his sword at a speed that was too fast for the silver haired man to dodge. Being unable to block the blade with his kunai, he was left with one choice, using the steel plating on the back of his hand glove.

Kakashi grit his teeth in pain as the blade made contact. The sword managed to crack his plating and make the bones in his hands nearly  _ crack _ . Kakashi could have swore that if Zabuza came down any harder he would have shattered every bone in his hand.

Zabuza grinned. He knew he had Kakashi in a vulnerable position, and he could tell that his student would be hard pressed to handle his clone one-on-one. He pulled a kunai with his free hand, ready to slit the throat of the Jonin.

A foot crashed into the side of Zabuza’s head at about the same time a kunai hit the neck of the clone, bursting it into water. As Zabuza was knocked away Kakashi saw Naruto land to his feet, cocky fox grin ever present on face.

Kakashi couldn’t help but smile. The blonde rascal managed to save his life.

“You know Kakashi-sensei, I can’t say I’m happy about you guys ditching me back at Tazuna’s house.” Naruto said with mock anger, raising an eyebrow.

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders and raised his hands innocently, “Well forgive me for trying to be considerate of your hard work.” 

Naruto also shrugged, “I  _ guess  _ it’s ok. I think I’ll let it slide this one time.”

Sakura and Tazuna had been watching the whole battle in angst up to the point where Kakashi was nearly killed. When the blonde Genin managed to save the silver-haired Jonin, it had to be one of the biggest reliefs they’d felt all day.

‘Naruto you blockhead.’ Sakura said with a small smile.

Zabuza had been rubbing his head. He had been thoroughly humiliated. Caught off guard by a mere Genin  _ twerp  _ like  _ that _ ! “Who the hell is that kid anyway?”

Naruto smirked, having heard Zabuza. He jerked a thumb toward himself, “The names-”

“Naruto Uzumaki,” Kakashi cut the blonde off, “Konoha’s number one knuckle-headed ninja.” Kakashi said proudly.

“Yeah, what he said.” Naruto said plainly.

Zabuza spat, “You’re all a bunch of jokes.” He said spitefully.

“Oh yeah! Well this jokes about to deliver a punchline you’ll never forget!” Naruto prepared the handsigns for shadow clone jutsu before Kakashi put up a hand to block him.

“No Naruto. I want you to stay on the sidelines for this one.”

The Uzumaki wasn’t pleased, “What! What for? You and Sasuke-teme got to have a crack at the guy, why not me?”

“You’ll only get in the w-” The Hatake began to think back. Naruto  _ had  _ grown leagues more since the days he was at the academy. He  _ did  _ manage to catch a Jonin  _ offguard. _ Why not let him help? “You know what, alright. How about you tag out Sasuke this round?” He looked to the Uchiha who was drenched in water, trying to get as much out of his hair as possible before the start of the next fight. The man then looked at the glass dome where Trunks was facing Haku. ‘I didn’t expect Trunks to take long with her. Perhaps he’s having a bit of trouble?’ “Hey Sasuke,” He got the Uchiha’s attention, “why don’t you help out Trunks. Naruto’ll help me out with Zabuza.” Sasuke looked less than pleased to hear he was being replaced, but hadn’t argued against it.

He ran to the ice dome.

Zabuza, got back to his feet. He picked up his Kubikiribocho with his right hand and laid the flat edge of his sword on his right shoulder. The man cracked his neck before rolling his shoulders. “Well Kakashi, are you ready for round 2?” The assassin leveled his sword at Kakashi and Naruto.

“Round 2? I thought we were at least in round 4.” Kakashi voiced before pulling a kunai. Naruto summoned up three shadow clones before they charged into battle.

XXX

Trunks shot dual Ki blasts at two mirrors, the first one disintegrating and the other one shattering. He was met with a flurry of needles to the back that stung him. “Darn it! There’s gotta be a way out of here!”

“I’m afraid not. Although, I must admit, this is getting rather tiresome.” Haku admitted. Her and Trunks then turned their heads to the direction of running footsteps.

‘Oh no, what now!’ Trunks thought dreadfully. When he saw Sasuke appear inside the dome with him, he almost pulled his hair out. “Sasuke, what are you doing here!?!?” Trunks growled out, trying to keep himself from shouting. The Uchiha had no idea what he got himself into.

“Kakashi thinks you work too slow,” Sasuke pulled a kunai and held it in a reverse-grip. “I’m here to help take care of her.” Sasuke slid into a fighting stance with his kunai in hand.

The saiyan prince sighed, “If you say so.” It was then he noticed the difference in Sasuke’s eyes. Trunks decided not to dwell on it.

“You’ve made a grave mistake by coming here.” Haku said, filling her hands with senben. “I feel you should know that.”

Trunks immediately got in front of Sasuke, shielding the Uchiha from (most) of the senben that showered over them. Sasuke hissed as he felt the sharp cold sting of a few stray senben catch him in his right shoulder, left calf, and a trio stick deep into his right forearm. “You Ok?” Trunks asked the raven-haired teenager.

“How the hell are you not getting stuck by these!? _ ”  _ Sasuke growled in pain and anger as he viciously ripped out the needles in his forearm.

“Sorry, but you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” Trunks said, his eyes narrowing, “But just try to stay behind me. I haven’t had any problems in terms of her trying to hurt me.” Trunks considered going super-saiyan for the speed boost, but the issue with that was, he wouldn’t know if he could. Seeing as he hadn’t got to use the form often, his body wasn’t used to it. It still took a minute for the teen to transform, and being in a vulnerable position like that could prove fatal in this battle.

Haku wasn’t one to get angry, but this was seriously starting to grate on her nerves. She had been at this battle for, kami-knows how long, and she still failed to find a way through the lavender-haired boys defenses.  _ Every  _ enemy had a weakness. She couldn’t keep up this kekkei-genkai forever, so she had to do something.

She pulled one senben, and looked over it. If this didn’t work, then she may as well accept defeat and let the two boys kill her. Haku’s chakra surged through the needle, outlining it in an invisible blue aura that showed that it was enhanced,  _ stronger,  _ and would undoubtedly shoot faster. The young woman made a silent prayer that this would work.

Trunks felt an  _ extremely  _ sharp jolt of pain shoot up his arm. His head turned to his right bicep to see that a senben was sticking out of it. With a shaky hand, the saiyan pulled the needle out, seeing a small rivulet of blood drizzle out of the wound. “...That’s a problem.” He mumbled.

Haku smirked under her mask, ‘Perfect.’ Now she knew how to bring the warrior down.

“Sasuke move!” Trunks shouted a wave of chakra-enhanced senben poured down. Not only was Sasuke in danger, but this time, Trunks was too. The two boys along with Haku became a set of blurs darting around the dome.

Sasuke and Trunks cried out as they were struck by senben. Sasuke received the worst of the damage, not really having the durable body that Trunks had. The Uchiha dropped to his knees, wheezing in pain from the needles that dug deeper into his body than what was natural, the ones that stuck limbs passed through the flesh and muscle, and even grazed his  _ bones _ . A nasty gash caught his right cheek that left blood seeping through. His shirt was torn in several places.

Trunks appeared in front of his downed teammate. “Come on Sasuke, you can’t be finished yet!” Trunks told the raven-haired teen. The saiyan prince could understand though, he had senben sticking out of his arms and legs and they stung like a bitch. One actually got caught in his lower left calf, making that leg go numb.

“I’m  _ not!”  _ Sasuke growled through the pain, _ “ _ But, I think I know a way to beat her.” He whispered.

Trunks whispered back, “If so I wanna hear it, before she attacks again.”

The Uchiha motioned towards the water on the ground, “See that, if you can get some of that water in the air then-” Sasuke gagged.

Trunks turned to see three senben sticking out of the Uchiha’s neck. Sasuke’s eye’s widened before they rolled into the back of his head, his body falling lifelessly face first to the ground.

“Just because I can’t hear you, doesn’t mean I can’t read lips.” Haku said matter of factly, even though Trunks couldn’t hear her.

Time seemed to stop for the Demi-saiyan. The world went mute as Sasuke’s body went lifelessly still. With a shaky hand Trunks shook the Uchiha, “S-Sasuke, wake up.” Trunks begged, but the Uchiha wouldn’t move a muscle. The Demi-saiyan’s eye twitched. Once again in his life, he’s failed to protect or even  _ save  _ someone. So many have fallen, and this time, it was all his fault. His arrogance  _ let  _ her finish her jutsu, get himself  _ trapped, _ and get Sasuke in this situation with him. The anger he felt began to bubble up, he clenched his fists and grit his teeth.

She was gonna pay for what she did.

Haku stared down at the saiyan who appeared to grieve over his comrades death. She felt just the faintest bit of pity, she never  _ liked  _ having to kill, but this was just the unfortunate fate for those who intervened in her master’s plans. “I’m sorry about your friend, but it should be known that-”

“ _ Just shut up…” _ A deep growl Trunks lips, surprising Haku. The teen across was shuddering in either sadness, anger, or regret, maybe a combination of the three. Haku noticed the air around her grow warmer, even from within the glass. A blue flame enveloped the boy as he stood tall. Haku couldn’t see the boys face, but if she could, she would see that his irises had disappeared, leaving only the white’s visible. The flame began to grow bigger and more volatile, gaining a yellow-gold hue.

XXX

Zabuza's sword sliced through a wave of Naruto clone's that burst in a wave of smoke. The assassin had been chopping them down for the past few minutes while fending off Kakashi at the same time. "Heh, you're doing no better with this kid than with the last one Kakashi. Just admit it, you're not beating me." Zabuza bragged as he turned to block an elbow from Kakashi with his forearm.

“You sure about that?” Kakashi jumped back.

Zabuza turned around to see Naruto finishing handsigns, “ **Wind-Style: Air Bullets** !”

The assassin cursed before moving to dodge the balls of wind that shot from the Uzumaki’s mouth. The last one came a bit too fast for him to simply weave through so he had to settle on blocking it with his sword, which was a mistake. The pocket of wind blew the swordsman’s blade out of his hand, sending it spinning until it clattered to the pavement. 

Now unarmed, Zabuza cursed before forming two water clones as a quick distraction for his next jutsu. Kakashi made short work of the clone just before noticing Zabuza forming a long series of signs. The scarecrow was already familiar with it from the assassins fight with Trunks, “Oh no you don’t!” Kakashi pulled out a scroll and unfolded it. The man knew that this particular summon would take considerably less time to execute than Zabuza’s jutsu. Kakashi bit his thumb and smeared the blood down the scroll. “ **Ninja Art: Earth Tracking Fang Jutsu!”**

Something burst from beneath the ground, biting down on Zabuza’s ankle. It was a dog. “What the hell!” The man shouted as more dogs appeared and bit down on every limb on his body. Zabuza let out a loud yell of pain as one particular dog bit down on his left hand and crushed the bones. The Demon’s eyes widened in pain, “D-Damn you Kakashi!” The man struggled to move but found that he couldn’t from the canines holding him in place.

Sakura cheered, “Yeah, you got him Kakashi-sensei!”

Naruto grinned, “Come on sensei finish him off.”

Kakashi began forming the handsigns for his most infamous ninjutsu, before the air around them shifted, growing suffocatingly warm. 

A loud and pained yell broke through the air, accompanied by a flash of bright yellow light, which only growing brighter from the mirrors reflecting them back to one spot.

“K-Kakashi-Sensei, what is that?” Sakura asked as she shielded her eyes, although she had a pretty good idea who was responsible.

Kakashi had to cover his sharingan out of risk of it getting destroyed. The Jonin couldn't believe the amount of raw power that Trunks held. This had to be Bijuu level energy that he was giving out and it appeared that he was only powering up. "Trunks, what are you?" The Jonin whispered.

Haku shielded her eyes, maybe she picked the wrong target? Perhaps she should have took out Trunks before Sasuke. That would be a mistake she would come to regret. The lights died down, allowing her to peek through her mask in awe at the change that came about the warrior in front of her.

A gold aura hugged his body, burning with the same likeness of a flame. But that wasn't all. The teens once lavender hair stood up in a sweeping crown of sharp spikes, the exception of a few bangs hanging low in his face (A/N: He has the same super Saiyan hairstyle as kid Trunks), the boys eyes that were once blue and already focused, lonely, and hardened, were now teal and backed by an animalistic aggression, giving Haku the feeling that she was about to do battle with a wolf whose pack member she just messed with.

"You," Trunks voice was rougher, almost like a growl, only adding to his intimidating demeanor. "Have just  _ royally _ pissed me off."

Haku was shaking. She was scared. She had thought she'd seen at least a good portion of what the boy was capable of when he fought Zabuza, but now, she knew she hadn't seen a fraction. She was safe from within the mirror, she knew that. But, she had to take this boy out. She drew three senben, and prepared an attack that would be aimed at the Saiyans throat, heart, and skull. The fact that she could be viewed from every mirror within the dome made her confident that Trunks wouldn't see this attack coming. He would die.

The  _ instant  _ her body left the glass panel a fist crashed into into her face. Hard. She may as well have made contact with the force of a speeding train. Haku was thrown back through the panel she came from, smashing it into a million glass shards. Unconscious, her body met hard and unforgiving concrete, tumbling along it until she stopped in front of the rest of Team 7 and Zabuza.

Five wide eyes traveled from Haku, up to the one that defeated her. What they saw shocked them. A person that was dressed like the swordsman of their Team was strolling their direction. The swept and spiked golden hair, the piercing teal eyes, increased muscle mass. It wasn't the Genin they knew... was it?

"T-Trunks?" Naruto asked, stopping the Saiyan who was walking like he was taking a deadly stroll through the park.

The saiyans head turned to Uzumaki, giving the boy and the rest of team confirmation that it was indeed their friend.

"I got some explaining to do, I know." Trunks said plainly before he faced the false-hunter nin lying unconscious on the ground in front of him. Haku’s mask was practically disintegrated from the blow.

As Trunks leveled a hand at her, preparing a blast that would wipe her from existence, Naruto shouted, "Trunks wait!" The Saiyan paused as the yellow orb appeared in his hand. "She’s down. You don't have to do this."

"Why not!?" Trunks shouted in confusion and anger, surprising Sakura and Kakashi. It wasn't like the teen to just shout like that. "She tried to kill me, and she  _ killed Sasuke!" _

Sakura gasped, tears quickly filling her eyes. Naruto's breathing came up short. The stuck-up prissy Uchiha that he had called his rival, borderline-enemy yet his first friend, was dead? 

Similar emotions that filled Trunks took over Naruto. Grief, anger, sorrow. The Uzumaki's fists clenched tight, to the point where blood dripped through his fingers. His blue eyes turned red and his canine’s grew sharper. His back was to Kakashi and Sakura so they wouldn’t have noticed. 

Naruto took a deep breath and calmed down, letting the features fade away. Trunks decided to drop his hand and cancel the blast. The super saiyan form melted away from his body, his hair turning back to the same lavender that it once was. The prince, having enough of fighting, stepped away from the blonde and Haku.

“He’s right you know.” Naruto looked down to see it was Haku who spoke to him, her eyes barely open, “I did kill your precious friend. Why not kill me?”

The Uzumaki gave her disdainful glare. He gave her a kick to the face that knocked her unconscious.

Kakashi turned to Zabuza. “Don’t think I forgot about you Zabuza.” Kakashi put together the handsigns for his next Jutsu, the raikiri.

“Heh, well played Kakashi, well played.” The Demon said respectfully. He lost. Oh well, but by who better than Kakashi of the sharingan?

The second Kakashi finished his last hand sign, he and the others heard the tapping of a cane accompanied by amused chuckling.

“Well well well, looks like the so called ‘Demon of the mist’ failed again!” Gato mockingly laughed. Zabuza, Kakashi, and the rest of Team 7 noticed that the short man was backed by a small army of thugs, criminals, and ronin. All who had leering looks in their eyes.

Zabuza gave the man a scowl, "Why are you here?"

The kingpin gave an evil grin. "Plans change. Well, actually, I was planning on doing this from the beginning. You see, you’re all gonna die here."

"What?!"

The man snickered, "You really thought I was gonna pay  _ you _ ?"

By this time, the rest of team 7 that had been spectating were surprised by this turn of events… to say the least.

Gato continued, "You see, hiring a normal ninja is expensive, and there's always the chance they'll betray me. So, I get you missing nins who are easy to take care of afterwards. I have the ninjas take care of each other, then finish them off with numbers while they’re exhausted. Good plan, don't you think?" He let out another laugh, "To think that you would have been a problem Zabuza, you’re a damn  _ joke _ ! You can’t even kill a couple of kids! We’ll  _ easily  _ kill you all now.”

'There's so many of them.' Naruto thought.

"Kakashi." The Demon's voice caught the Jounin's attention, "Looks like I've been betrayed, which means my contract is null. I have no more reason to pursue the old man.” Tazuna felt a relief like no other flood him.

Kakashi nodded and dispersed his dog summons, setting Zabuza free. “So, what are we gonna do now?”

"Tsk, you gotta ask? This bastard played me.” Zabuza’s eyes narrowed dangerously, “ _ No one,  _ plays me and lives.”

He turned to Trunks, “Hey kid, toss me your sword.”

Trunks pulled his blade and debated if he should give it to the assassin. If the man’s no longer an enemy...why not? Trunks tossed the blade to Zabuza who snatched it out of the air with his right hand, his only good hand.

He rushed at the army of mercenaries with the blade held in his good hand, sun gleaming off the metal.

Gato’s eyes widened in horror when he saw his reflection in the metal, "That's enough, Kill him!" Gato shouted at his hired help as he moved through the crowd, trying to get behind them for safety.

"Sure thing," One of them replied, "A badly injured ninja against these numbers, there's no way he can wi-." His eyes widened in horror as he saw the spirit of a Demon enveloping Zabuza as he charged towards them.

Zabuza started slashing his way through the ranks towards Gato. The Demon of the mist hacked through the thugs, taking off limbs and heads and opening up stomachs. One tried to attack from behind, he swung the sword around and sliced him. Just then one of them got lucky and managed to stab a katana into Zabuza's back. The others took advantage of this and stuck their weapons in as well. 

Ignoring the pain, he continued, reaching the business tycoon. Gato gagged and coughed up blood, looking down he saw the sword sticking deep into his stomach, having exited his back as well.

"J-Just die already!" Gato yelled in pain. Zabuza just held the blade up high, picking up the business man along with it who hollered in pain, feeling the metal tearing through his insides.

"Not without you, little man. Us two, we'll go to hell together.” he brought Gato in close to his face, “Then we'll see if I really am a devil." Zabuza grinned as Gato’s dying eyes stared into his. Zabuza leaned in and whispered, “Spending an eternity with you is gonna be fun.” He kicked the little man off the blade and over the bridge, sending him into the salty seawater below.

The surviving guns fearfully stepped back as Zabuza turned to them. He managed to walk through the crowd that stepped to the side, ‘This is goodbye Haku. Thank you for everything. I'm sorry.’ He fell face first into the ground.

The Demon of the mist was no more.

Kakashi shook his head and covered his sharingan. Zabuza may have been an enemy for a while. But he was respectable. Sakura gazed at the man's body, before turning to Kakashi, “Kakashi-sensei, Zabuza’s dead?” The pinkette asked, although she was already certain of her answer. A slight nod from her Jonin confirmed it.

Trunks himself was willing to kill the man a short time ago. But now, he felt kind of bad. He couldn’t explain why though. He had no reason to feel bad for a man that tried to kill his friends an hour ago.

Naruto’s lip trembled, showing he was sharing similar emotions to his teammates.

Sakura’s green eyes widened, “Hey, where’s Sasuke!” She searched for the Uchiha who was lying faced down in the spot Trunks left him. Naruto and Trunks followed her to the Uchiha’s body. Sakura’s eyes teared up once she got an eyeful of the Uchiha’s condition.

“D-Did I die?”

The teens eye’s widened at the familiar voice. 

“Sasuke-Kun!” Sakura cried, burying her face into the half-conscious Uchiha’s neck making him grunt in pain.

“Sasuke, you’re alive!” Naruto said happily as he kneeled next to his friend. Kakashi and Tazuna smiled knowing the Uchiha was doing just fine.

At first Trunks was happy and at the same time felt  _ really  _ stupid. He must have forgot to sense for Sasuke’s life force during the heat of the battle. But then, the prince grew confused. He could have sworn that Haku aimed to kill the Uchiha. She practically turned him and Trunks into pincushions. Unless,

“She wasn’t trying to kill us.” Trunks mumbled, although his Team heard him clearly.

“What? How couldn’t she have been? She worked with Zabuza didn’t she?” Naruto asked. Kakashi and Sakura were also curious.

Trunks looked to her unconscious form, “She was capable of hitting someone with pinpoint accuracy. If she wanted to, she could have stuck us in the heart and got it over with. Why didn’t she?” It was safe to say that the Uchiha never felt so lucky.

Kakashi nodded. “You’re right. We’ll just have to question her when we get back to Tazuna’s house.” Hatake picked up Haku bridal style. 

Team 7 and Tazuna prepared to leave the bridge before a voice shouted, “HEY!” Their heads turned to see the remainder of Gato’s army crowded with their weapons ready.

“You just killed our meal ticket!”

“Now we’re gonna have to pillage this little town as payment!”

Tazuna was once again on edge. Couldn’t his village ever catch a break?

Although Kakashi didn’t voice it, he was nervous. His team was exhausted and most likely couldn’t handle that crowd of bandits. 

Just as the men pushed forward a crossbow bolt shot into the ground right in front of them. All eyes turned to Inari, the boy standing tall with a helmet and backed by a mob of villagers.

“You creeps sure you wanna mess with my town!” The kid said boldly. The villagers hollered in agreement. The bandits seemed apprehensive, but still didn’t back down.

A tear came to Tazuna’s eye, proud of who his grandson and fellow villagers had become.

Naruto and Trunks grinned to each other. Naruto formed about thirty shadow clones behind him and Trunks powered up, letting a wide blue flame blast to life around his body. Kakashi shrugged before laying down Haku, ‘I might as well bluff.’ Before he made a set of 10 clones.

“You idiots  _ really  _ wanna do this?” Naruto and his clones asked in unison.

Seeing that they were completely and totally outnumbered, the bandits turned tail and ran for the opposite side of the bridge, the  _ unfinished  _ side. The men didn’t hesitate to jump off.

The men and women of the Hidden Mist all cheered in joy. Their village was finally free. Naruto helped up Sasuke, Kakashi picked up Haku, and a group of the villagers picked up Zabuza’s corpse. 

“What do we do now Kakashi?” Sakura asked the Jonin of the team. Trunks also listened in.

The son of the White Fang casually said, “What do you mean ‘what do we do’? We still have a mission to complete. We stay until the bridge is done and then we go home.”

There was bound to be a festival and a lively celebration that night, one that Team 7 wouldn’t wanna miss.

XXX

A/N: Yeah, I spared Haku. Still, I wanted to do that while keeping the fight cinematic.

Some readers want Naruto to learn Ki and Trunks to learn Chakra in this fic. While I won’t say that it’s not gonna happen, don’t expect it to happen for a little while.

Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed!

  
  



	9. Going Home

A/N:  _ Very  _ short chapter, I know. But the next two or so chapters are going to be filler that leads up to the Chunin Exams. Hope you enjoy!

XXX

Haku slowly awoke from one of the best rests she ever had. Actually when one thought about it, she hadn’t  _ really  _ got to sleep for most of the week she was taking care of Zabuza. She found herself in a comfy bed in a dim lit furnished room, the lack of light being a result of the closed curtains.

Her brown eyes darted to the sides of her bed, looking for her supplies. She also noticed that she wasn't in the same attire that she was in during the bridge assault. Someone put her in a regular black t-shirt with her pants removed to just her gray panties. Feeling extremely vulnerable, she prepared to leap out of the covers and sneak her way out of the house, planning to kill anyone who posed a threat to her. 

As she pulled the covers from off of her body she felt a presence that instantly became accompanied by a voice, “Nice to see you’re awake.” The voice came off as a calm and laid-back purr.

Haku’s head snapped to her left to see Kakashi leaned against the bedroom wall. His only visible eye was narrowed dangerously. The muscles in the girls arms tensed up defensively, showing that she was ready to lash out if necessary. She felt like an animal that’d been cornered by a predator.

Kakashi held up a hand, “I’m  _ not  _ going to harm you,” his eye narrowed dangerously, “Unless you give me reason to.”

At least she felt a little better knowing that.

“Why did you bring me here? And where is Zabuza-san?” Haku asked the instant the thoughts came to mind.

Hatake’s eye closed, wondering which question to answer first. After taking a moment to think he said, “I brought you here because I have a few questions for you.” Kakashi approached the Ice Shinobi and take a knee right next to her. The fact that he still held a calm yet malicious glare told Haku that if she answered this question wrong she may die. “Why is Sasuke still alive?” He asked.

The tool’s gaze couldn’t meet Kakashi’s, staying lowered to the bed sheets. “I’ve never enjoyed killing anyone. Or even causing pain. Even though I was under Zabuza-san’s orders I was hoping to bend them this one time and hopefully spare them. It was just unfortunate that they were tough enough to stay conscious.”

Kakashi nodded, pleased with what he was told. The hostile gaze in his eye went away. “I assumed that. But why spare them when you’ve certainly killed others before?”

This time her eyes met Kakashi’s. “Because, I could relate to them.” Kakashi’s raised eyebrow prompted her to continue, “Your team. Unlike the other men that I’ve killed, your team had precious people in their lives. So do I. I just figured that if I were to sway from Zabuza-san’s command, it may as well be for a good cause.”

The silver-haired jonin was flabbergasted to say the least. Was this girl really  _ Zabuza’s  _ student? She seemed to be so kind hearted and gentle, traits that would obviously disgust someone like Zabuza. The silver-haired Jonin didn’t want to believe it, but it seemed he was left with no choice. Kakashi pinched his brow in frustration. As he stood to his feet Haku stopped him,

“Wait, you...you didn’t tell me what became of Master Zabuza.” Haku hurriedly said, a sign of her nervousness.

Kakashi’s shoulders dropped. Normally he would have no problem smacking someone in the face with the truth, but in her case, it didn’t sit well with him. “Gato betrayed the two of you. He planned on killing you both right from the start. Zabuza…died while taking Gato with him.”

Haku’s expression was blank for a moment. The corners of her mouth twitched before her eyes watered up. She quickly closed her eyes in an attempt to closet her emotions. There was a small sniffle as she spoke, “He died with honor yes?”

The Jonin nodded, “He took out Gato and as many of his men as he could before going down. I’d say that there was some honor in that somewhere.” Before he walked out the door he turned to her, “My team and Tazuna’s family are in the house when you feel that you’re ready to come out.” He closed the door behind him. The sound of sniffling could be heard as he continued down the hallway.

As the Jonin walked into the kitchen he found his team, Tazuna, and Inari sitting at the dining room table while Tsunami was making breakfast. Trunks, Naruto, and Sakura were talking while Sasuke brooded like he normally did. Sasuke and Trunks arms and legs were wrapped tight in bandages.

The second Sakura saw Kakashi she asked, “How is she Kakashi-sensei?”

“She’ll be fine. She’s just...pulling herself together.” The Jonin said as he sat down in the kitchen seat. His eyes traveled to Trunks, who grew nervous as if he knew where this would lead. “Let’s all go outside. We need to talk.” Trunks gulped.

Team 7 sat around in a circle in the forest. “Alright Trunks,” Kakashi started, “tell us what the  _ hell  _ that was yesterday.”

All eyes shot at him. The pressure was making the demi-saiyan begin to sweat. How was he supposed to explain to his teammates about a super saiyan without telling them he’s half alien?

“Um,” He started awkwardly, “what you saw was a super saiyan.”

It was safe to say that there were blank expressions all around.

Of course Naruto was the first to ask, “The hell is that?” The rest of the teams silence confirmed similar thoughts.

Taking a breath, Trunks continued, “Basically, it’s a form I can take that’ll give me heightened strength, speed, and a boost in power.” 

Sasuke's eyes narrowed in both confusion and jealousy. Just what did the Uchiha miss when he was unconscious? And this imbecile _ really  _ had another form he could take to get stronger? His fists balled tight.

Kakashi rubbed his chin, “Yeah, I think I got that part myself, but what’s a  _ saiyan _ ?” He said the last word like it was foreign to him. Which it was.

The Demi-saiyan’s eye twitched. Now this was going to be difficult. “Um, a saiyan was what my father was. They were a group of... pirates, basically. Only saiyans were, um,  _ gifted  _ with the capability of becoming a super saiyan.”

Kakashi once again rubbed his chin, “So it’s basically a bloodline limit. But how does one unlock or achieve this ability?”

Trunks head lowered, “Several ways. It can be substantial amounts of stress, a need, anger… a loss.” 

Kakashi had a feeling where Trunks was headed with this, having listened in on the demi-saiyans conversation with Inari.

Sakura’s eyes grew soft, “H… How did you become one?” Judging by the way Trunks dragged out the last few words, she had a feeling her question was answered. It was only confirmed by the twitching in the corners of Trunks mouth.

Kakashi’s eyes softened as well, knowing all too well what it was like to lose people who meant so much in one’s life.

Naruto was confused. He may have let the whole super saiyan explanation and origin fly right over his head but he had no clue as to why his team seemed so crestfallen.

The Jonin sighed, knowing that that was enough revelation for the day. Kakashi knew that Trunks was keeping something from them. Eventually all of his secrets would come to light, “Let’s go back inside. We can see if Tsunami’s finished cooking.”

Breakfast was relatively quiet, which was very ironic seeing as the atmosphere was lively and celebratory yesterday night. Team 7 were still thinking back on the information they were given while Tazuna’s family were just following along with the silence.

A slight creaking in the floorboards brought everyone’s attention to the doorway. Haku stood nervously glancing to each individual at the table.

“Ah, goodmorning! Take a seat, there’s enough food for you too!” Tazuna said joyfully, feeling grateful that he wasn’t gonna die today. Tsunami gave her an assuring smile to let her know it was okay.

As Haku took a seat next to Sakura and across from Sasuke, Naruto couldn’t take his eyes off of her. ‘She’s even cuter than Sakura!’ He thought with a red face.

Sasuke’s face grew red in both embarrassment and anger, embarrassment that he got his ass handed to him by this woman, and anger that he had to eat with her, the day after!

Trunks found the situation awkward as well. He wasn’t too fond of sitting at a table with someone he almost blasted yesterday afternoon. He brought a cup of water up to his lips and sipped at it, attempting to draw his attention elsewhere.

“So,” Sakura started, hoping to break the uncomfortable atmosphere. In all honesty, she was threatened by Haku’s appearance. Mostly because she knew that the other girl was better looking, “Now that your master is… you know, what are you gonna do now?”

Haku sat silently for a moment, “I don’t know. I have nowhere to go.”

Everyone felt kind of bad. 

Okay, maybe a lot of bad. And for good reason. Haku wasn’t evil, and she wasn’t even a bad person. She was just a kid, like them, who followed the orders of someone who did truly evil things.

Kakashi decided to speak up, “Well, if you want you can stay here with my team while Tazuna finishes the bridge. After the bridge is complete then, we can move on from there.” The man wasn’t sure if he wanted to offer her the chance to come to Konoha, but he knew that Tazuna wouldn’t mind her staying at the house with them.

The ice-nin seemed to be considering the offer, before she nodded, “That would be greatly appreciated. Thank you so much.”

Tazuna and Tsunami smiled before the old man let out a jolly, “Perfect! It’ll be great to have ya around!” Tazuna wiped his hands clean before standing up from his seat, “Now, we’ve got a lot of work to do. Let’s get this bridge taken care of!”

XXX

The following weeks went by relatively fast. Team 7 assisted the construction workers with the building of the bridge, boosting progress speed by 10 fold. Haku’s presence was something that they were growing accustomed to, she was actually rather sweet and would lend a hand in whatever way she knew how to. During the team's training sessions she gave Trunks tips on how to spot Kakashi, making the Demi-saiyan exponentially better at tracking the jonin in their little game.

It was now three weeks later, and the entire village of Wave was gathered to see Team 7 and Haku off on the now completed bridge that linked Wave to the mainland. 

“See you around Inari!” Naruto said as he fistbumped the younger boy.

“It’s been fun kid!” Trunks said as he rustled Inari’s hair. 

The younger boy’s eyes grew wetter as he spoke, a tremble underlying his tone, “Yeah, it’s been great. I’m… I’m gonna miss you guys.”

Naruto’s mouth quivered as he spoke, his eyes growing just as wet as Inari’s, “You know… it’s okay to cry when you’re happy.”

Inari’s mouth began quivering as well, “What are you talking about? I told you I wasn’t gonna cry anymore, didn’t I?”

“That’s great dude.” He quickly turned around, “Well, see ya’ around!” Naruto said as he and Trunks turned to walk with their team, the demi-saiyan giving one final wave to the villagers who were shouting good-bye and other wishes of luck and farewells.

Sakura took one glance at Inari and another glance at Naruto (both boys faces being reduced to tears and runny noses), before deadpanning, ‘Give me a break.’

As he watched them leave Tazuna couldn't keep the smile from his face as he looked at the boys that had become such positive role models for his grandson.

"Those boys," The bridge builder said, earning the attention of everyone around him.

"Those boys truly did save us. Not only did they free us from Gato, but they changed Inari's heart. And in doing so created a bridge that spelled hope for a dying country." Finished Tazuna with a smile.

"Speaking of bridges we still need to name this one." Said Tsunami.

"Heh, how about 'The Great Tazuna Bridge?'." Said Tazuna, making Tsunami roll her eyes while the other villagers laughed.

"How about 'The Great Naruto and Trunks Bridge', a bridge named after the heroes of Wave." Said Tsunami.

“That’s too long.” Someone within the crowd pointed out.

“And it sounds lame.” Someone else pointed out.

A light bulb went off over Inari’s head, “Ooh, I have an idea, how about ‘The Bridge of Hope’?”

Tazuna rubbed his chin in thought, “It has a nice ring to it!” The builder turned to the crowd behind him, “All for the ‘The Bridge of Hope’ say ‘I’!”

“I!” The crowd shouted in unison.

XXX

Team 7 found their way to a cliff that overlooked the Wave village. An orange sunset sky made the view a beauty to look at. This proved to be a landmark that served as Zabuza’s memorial and burial ground. The Demon of the Mist’s sword sticking from the ground served as his tombstone. The teens and Kakashi stood back as Haku silently paid her respects for her former master.

Three fingers pressed to Haku’s lips before she pressed them to Zabuza’s blade, and then to the spot of Zabuza’s burial. Her eyes closed in a silent prayer, ‘Farewell...father.’ She stood up, a tear falling down her cheek.

“Have you decided what you want to do?” Kakashi asked, “I’ve offered you the choice at returning to the village with us, but you haven’t given me a definitive answer.”

Haku turned to face Team 7, “I know. And I’ve decided against it.”

The Uzumaki was flabbergasted, “But why? You could easily make a life for yourself inside the village.”

“Perhaps, but during my time under Zabuza-san’s tutelage I cannot deny the atrocities that I’ve helped him commit. For that I will travel in search of ways to redeem myself.”

Kakashi nodded, finding the explanation reasonable, and very respectable. Naruto still looked as if he wasn’t convinced of her excuse, but frowned and nodded anyways. 

Haku approached Trunks, Sasuke, and Naruto. She turned Sasuke and bowed, “I know that it may be difficult, but I must ask that you forgive me for almost killing you.”

The Uchiha gave an angry sigh, “Sure, whatever.” He grumbled.

That was enough for Haku.

She then turned to Trunks and Naruto before bowing to both of them, “After all this time, I haven’t gotten to thank you both.”

The two friends gave puzzled looks to one another before Naruto gave her a raised eyebrow, “Thank us for what?”

She turned to Trunks, “You for not killing me,” she turned to Naruto, “and you for convincing him not to kill me.” She said with a warm smile that made the two boys blush.

“Yeah sure it’s no problem.” They said in semi-unison, Naruto speaking slightly faster while Trunks was normal pace with a bashful tone.

Haku giggled before she turned her back on Team 7, “Farewell. I’m sure our paths will cross again.”

The group waved their good-bye’s to Haku.

As the girl walked her seperate way, Kakashi laid his hands on Naruto and Sasuke’s shoulders. “Well team, it’s time we get moving. It’ll be a long walk back to the village.” The Jonin turned on his heel and walked, his Genin following close behind him. 

In all honesty, they were getting homesick anyways.

XXX

After a three day journey Team 7 managed to finally make it back through the village of the leafs front gates. The Jonin decided to squeeze a little physical training in there by making the teens sprint over 10 miles to speed up travel time.

“Yo Trunks, wanna grab a snack at Ichiraku’s later?” Naruto asked as the group walked through the open gates.

Sakura passed an angry glare at the blonde. She was actually planning on asking Trunks to spend the rest of the day with her but the baka beat her to it.

Kakashi noticed this and smiled. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Trunks waved him off, “Naw, it’s cool. I think I’m gonna-”

A shinobi shunshined in front of the Genin and Kakashi. The fact that the man appeared to be distressed baffled the team. What could he want? They  _ just  _ got back.

When the man saw Trunks he seemed a tad bit relieved, “Trunks Briefs, thank God. You're mother...she’s awake!”

XXX

A/N: And that’s where we end this filler chapter. Like I said before, this was gonna be a shorter chapter. I may have a couple of these short chaps to fill in the gaps to the Chunin Exams. Now, Bulma is waking up from her almost two month long coma. How will she react to this new world? Find out on the next chapter of Mirai Shinobi!


	10. Waking Up

A/N: Here we go!

XXX

The saiyan hastily followed the messenger shinobi through the hospital hallways. Apparently they moved Bulma’s bed to another wing of the hospital. Naruto decided to tag along even though Trunks tried persuading him not to. It honestly wasn't a huge deal to the prince having Naruto come along anyways. Trunks grew increasingly more antsy as he continued through the hospital, wondering if the idiot guiding him could move any faster.

The shinobi stopped in front of a door marked 'G32' through the engraving on the door. There were also two Anbu standing to either side of the door, "Here's the room." The man said as he held his arm out to lead Trunks and Naruto inside.

Although the saiyan hurried through the door, when he was inside he found himself moving a lot slower and cautiously. The reasoning, he didn't know why. He saw his mother’s bed set against the wall across the room. 

Bulma herself, sat in bed reading a book.

The prince hesitated, “Mom?”

Bulma stiffened, her eyes widening as if she couldn’t believe what she just heard. Her head slowly turned towards the all too familiar voice. “T...Trunks!” She gasped, her eyes tearing.

Smiling, the saiyan ran to his mother, the two sharing a tight embrace. 

“How long have you been awake?” Trunks asked the blue haired woman.

“About three days. That man, the  _ Hokage _ , was here when I woke up and he told me you were out on a mission.”

Trunks pulled back and nervously scratched his head, “Oh, I guess you know that I’m-”

“A ninja?” Bulma finished, her tone showing that she wasn’t too thrilled about his position. She sighed, “Look, I don’t know how I feel about you being what equates to a  _ child soldier _ , but I understand that we owe a debt to these people for taking care of us.”

Trunks nodded, expecting a response like that. It was then that Bulma noticed Naruto, who was standing by the doorway, “Who’s he?” She asked her son.

Trunks mentally slapped himself, having forgotten that Naruto was in the room as well, “Oh, sorry mom, that’s Naruto, he’s my friend, and my teammate.”

The Uzumaki, in a rare display of timidness, scratched the back of his head before letting out a nervous, “H-Hi.” The act made Bulma chuckle. Only a few months in and Trunks had genuine friends. Sure he once had Gohan, and other friends of the family, but he never really had to try to earn any.

Bulma sighed, looking towards the window that was against the same wall her bed was pushed against, making viewing the outside impossible, “You know, I still have yet to see what the outside world looks like. You boys mind getting me out of this bed? I haven't used my feet in months you know.” 

Trunks held out his left arm for his mother to hold onto for support. The inventor removed the sheets from her body and gingerly moved to put her feet on the ground. A white hospital gown was her obvious attire. As she stood up she found her legs to be wobbly, as she expected. It was then she noticed Naruto walk up and offer his arm, which she gladly took.

With slow and easy steps the two boys managed to lead the woman away from her hospital bed and out of the door. The shinobi outside still stood as still as statues. “Hey mom, did the Hokage say it was ok for you to leave the room?” Trunks asked.

Bulma nodded, “He said for us to meet him in his office to further discuss our… situation.”

“Hey, what happened that was bad enough to put you in the hospital for three months?” Naruto asked.

Trunks and Bulma exchanged nervous glances, “Uh, long story.” Trunks said dismissively.

The blonde was tempted to push them for an answer, but decided to drop it.

After getting signed out of the hospital, Bulma took her first steps out of the door and into the ninja world. The village of Konohagakure fascinated her, the traditional oriental architecture of the buildings with the small mix of modern influences mixed in. While bedridden she did get to read several books on the history of the village and the elemental nations, allowing her to get a basic understanding of this new land. Like Trunks, she had to admit that the lack of flying cars, or worse, no cars at all, would be something she had to get used to. Either way it was a breath of fresh air to look at buildings that haven’t been reduced to ruins and rubble.

It was just a shame that this would be one of the few intact civilizations that her son would get to know.

The trio came up on what Bulma recalled as the Hokage building, having seen pictures in one of the books she read. Upon entering and making a rather toilsome trek up the stairs, they stood before the Hokage’s door, that was also guarded by two Anbu’s much like Bulma’s hospital room was. 

Naruto gently released Bulma’s arm and walked up to the big brown closed door. His hand came up like he was going to gently rap against it before it slammed into the hard wood several times, loudly shouting “Yo old man, you got visitors!”

Bulma gave Trunks a questionable look, making the saiyan prince return her a nervous one. Silently telling her she’d get used to it.

A sigh could be heard, “You can come in Naruto.” Hiruzen’s exasperated voice spoke, making the blonde grin and throw the door open, revealing the Hokage who was sitting at his desk with pointed eyes trained directly at Naruto. If eyes could curse, Hiruzen’s would be saying something along the lines of ‘Damn you boy!’ 

When he noticed Bulma he completely disregarded the whiskered rascal, “Oh, Ms. Briefs, please take a seat.” With a wave of his hand two Anbu took her free arm and the arm from Trunks and helped her to the chair in front of the Hokage's desk.

Trunks stood next to his mom seeing as there wasn’t another chair to sit in.

Hiruzen passed a glance to an Anbu who nodded and picked up Naruto by the scruff of his jacket, making the blonde thrash and curse, “Hey, what the hell are you-” And they disappeared in a wink. Another Anbu exited the room and closed the door behind him.

The room was silent as Sarutobi reached into his drawer and pulled out his pipe, tapping tobacco into it before lighting it. He took a puff of smoke before focusing on the Briefs family in front of him. “Now, I believe we should discuss your little predicament.” The old-man’s eyes narrowed, “And you can start by telling me  _ exactly  _ what happened. No beating around the bush or giving half-truths.”

Bulma appeared nervous, not knowing if it was a good idea to tell the old man everything. Mainly out of fear of being labeled as mentally psychotic. A calming hand resting on her shoulder accompanied with an assuring nod from her son convinced her to spill her secrets, “Well,” the blue haired woman started , “I was, building a time machine, and it backfired and sent us here.”

Hiruzen leaned back in his seat and nodded, “I believe you.” Bulma’s eyes widened, making Hiruzen continue, “You see, while you and your son were unconscious I had your memories scanned. The most recent portion. What we were able to reach as a conclusion was that you two… while from Earth, are not from  _ this  _ Earth.” That last part seemed to be something that the old man didn’t sit well with.

Bulma seemed unsurprised, “I came to that conclusion on my own.” She mumbled, even though the Hokage heard her clearly.

Hiruzen nodded again, “What do you believe could be the cause of this? Your,  _ Time Machine, _ sending you to our world?”

Bulma’s tapped her cheek as she thought for a second, “I have come up with one hypothesis, although it may be just a little hard for you to understand.” The Hokage got comfortable in his chair, taking a puff from his pipe and tipping it, a sign for Bulma to continue, “The Warp Capacitor, the device that’s supposed to make time travel possible, was designed personally by me and a team of scientists to split the fabric between time and space. I also had another mechanic in the machine that allowed us to pinpoint when and where in time we wanted to go, but that’s beside the point. Now, I have no doubt that what caused the malfunction in the machine was due to that capacitor acting up, but what caused the glitch in the W.C... I have no idea.”

Hiruzen tapped his chin in a thinking manner, having grasped the basic mechanics of their machine. “So you believe that a malfunction in this  _ Warp Capacitor  _ threw you into our world? Is what I’m getting from this.” 

Bulma nodded. 

Trunks had no idea what they were talking about at all, he just wanted to get home so he could continue his training to combat the androids.

“Do you believe it will be possible for the two of you to return home?” The Hokage asked.

Trunks was the one to answer, “Yeah, of course we can! My mom will have another machine ready soon and we’ll be out of here.”

Bulma passed her son an unsure glance. “I think I have some schematics in my project journals. I could be wrong though.” 

Sarutobi stroked the hairs on his chin,“I just have one last question. What was the purpose of you building a  _ Time  _ Machine? What event could you possibly want to alter?”

Bulma sighed, knowing that some dark memories were going to resurface, “14 years ago in our world, a great man by the name of Son Goku died of a heart virus. That of which there was no cure. Later on, two cyborgs that were created by a madman surfaced and begun to kill the earth’s inhabitants by the thousands. There was nothing that could be done to stop them, their power being great enough to wipe out the Earths defenders…” Her lips trembled, and her voice cracked “who my husband and Goku were a part of.” She quickly wiped her eyes and cleared her throat be continued, “The androids have managed to kill so many, and destroy so much that our world is now in  _ ruins _ , the survivors living in fear of when they’re going to die next. I thought that by going back in time and saving Goku, and warning the Earth’s special forces, the androids could be defeated and there could be a peaceful timeline.”

Hiruzen’s pipe almost fell from his mouth. He hadn’t expected their world to be so… dark. Even though he said he was done with questions, he still found himself asking one more, “Would killing these cyborgs erase the events from your timeline?”

Bulma went still for a moment, her head lowering, “No. I’ve deduced that time travel operates on the multiverse theory. Meaning that if one timeline changes, it breaks off into a whole separate timeline. In other words, we save one timeline while ours is still the same.” A small smile came across her face, “I just thought... there should be at least one world where the androids didn’t rule."

The Fire Shadow sighed, “I must say that was a noble effort on your part.” knowing he was going to need more time to think over this new information about the visitors, he would need to be alone. “As we’ve discussed before, Trunks-kun will be a shinobi in service of Konohagakure. In a way this will be his method of paying off both your hospital bills.” Hiruzen grinned.

Bulma rolled her eyes, having already showed her discomfort with Trunks being a child soldier.

“And it’s already been proven that Trunks has a place to rest.” Sarutobi had took it upon himself to spy on the boy at times using his crystal ball.

The genius turned to her son who pulled out the capsule tray from within his inside jacket pocket, making her give a relieved smile. “We’ll be fine Hokage sir.” 

The old man chuckled. “Well, you two seem to be situated. You’re both free to go. Oh, and Trunks,” He tossed the Demi-saiyan a bag of money. “Congratulations on your first  _ A _ -ranked mission. Give Naruto my regards.” He said joyfully as Trunks helped up Bulma from her chair.

“I will, thanks a lot!” Trunks said as he steadily led his mom out the door.

As the two walked out of the main door to the tower they found Naruto sitting on the steps outside, on the verge of passing out from boredom. Upon hearing the door open the blonde turned to see his friend and his mom exiting the building. “Finally, you guys all set with the old man?” Naruto asked as he took Bulma’s spare arm and speeding up the walk.

Trunks was the one to nod, “Yeah, and he said congrats on the A-rank.”

Naruto grinned, “It’s about time I’m getting acknowledged for my hard work around here.”

Bulma chuckled, “So, Naruto, how did you get to know my  _ precious baby boy _ .” She said the last part to purposely embarrass her son. Which worked well seeing as his face turned beet red and fell.

Naruto snickered at Trunks despair before answering Bulma, “Well Trunks and I went to the ninja academy together, he saved my life, and became my first real friend!”

“Awww how sweet.” Bulma said with a bubbly tone in her voice.

The three made their way into the forests of Konoha. During their walk Trunks would use his fingers to zap a trail into the grass that led from the village. “Hey, we don’t wanna get too far in. Let’s stop here.” Trunks said as he noted a clearing that would hold their house. The saiyan dug out the capsule tray.

“What are we doing out here anyway?” Naruto asked as the saiyan pulled out a capsule from its tray. The blondes question was answered as Trunks tossed the pill that erupted in a cloud of white smoke. What replaced the pill was a medium sized yellow dome house that was unlike anything the Uzumaki had ever seen before. “That… is freakin awesome.” Naruto said with wide eyes.

The door to the house opened automatically to allow the three to walk inside. What Naruto was introduced to was a neatly furnished living room with a leather couch in front of a large flat screen TV that was plugged against the wall. The tv, Naruto barely even knew what it was after being used to the old box styled ones. A small glass coffee table sat in front of the couch, a vase with flowers in the center of it. Light blue walls gave the inside of the home a more welcoming feel that was backed by the futuristic decor. The ceiling held built in circular lights that kept the house illuminated. A small but serviceable kitchen was built a bit further out from the living room, holding a large silver refrigerator and a few cabinets. To either side of the entranceway were doors, the left one being an opening to Trunks’ bedroom and the right being Bulma's’ bedroom.

The Uzumaki was brought out of his stupor by Trunks leading them into Bulma’s room, her door opening automatically as well. Bulma’s room was fairly large with a queen sized bed, carpeted floor, a work desk with a chair, and a large window to view the woods on the outside. The blue curtain on the window was able to open and close automatically.

Bulma was sat into the chair by her work desk to give her legs a break.

“Will you be okay Ms. Briefs?” Naruto asked.

“I’ll be fine kiddo, thanks. I’ll just need some time for my legs to get back coordinated.” Bulma said.

Trunks turned to Naruto, "Hey, you mind waiting in the living room? I need a moment with my mom." The Demi-saiyan asked his friend.

"Yeah, no problem dude." Naruto said as he left the room.

Trunk's called after, "You can raid the fridge if you want!" He immediately heard the sound of scurrying footsteps and the sound of the refrigerator door opening, making Trunks and Bulma chuckle.

"He seems like a really nice kid. Something about him reminds me of-" Bulma stopped herself, “Anyways, what were you needing to ask me son?”

“When were you going to get started on another machine?” Was the first thing he said.

Bulma sighed and pinched her brow. She somehow knew he was going to ask that, “Look, I’m not going to mince words here. To tell you the truth, I don’t know if I can make another one.”

“What are you talking about? We can’t just stay here! There are people back home who need us, who need  _ me _ !” The survivor couldn’t believe what his mom just said.

“You think I don’t know that!? What do you want me to do? You haven’t the slightest idea how long it took me to gather the equipment to put together that prototype, hell, some of that hardware I had to make  _ from scratch _ ,  _ with  _ the help of other scientists. What do you think I can do when we’re in a world that’s  _ behind  _ us technologically?”

Trunks fists clenched tight, “So your just giving up!? Gohan wouldn’t give up, he would find a way to get back home if it killed him.”

“No offense kid, but Gohan wouldn’t have the slightest clue on how to get back. Had I had the equipment to build another machine I damn well would build another one, but the fact of the matter is, I  _ don’t _ .”

The Demi-saiyans fists clenched tighter, to the point where one could hear his skin stretching, his eyes teared up, “Those people are doomed. Without me, they have no hope of defeating the androids. They’ll just keep getting picked off until there’s none of them left.”

Bulma’s eyes teared up as well, her voice choking up as she spoke, “How do you think I feel? It’s my fault that we’re in this situation in the first place. I know it hurts, but I’m  _ sorry. _ ”

Crimson rivulets streamed from the saiyan prince’s palms, dripping onto the floor. His head was lowered allowing his lavender hair to shadow his eyes. He turned on his heel and walked out of the room. Bulma tried reaching out to him, but found it a fruitless effort. His anger was justified, and the capsule corp heiress knew it. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed.

XXX

Naruto was digging into a bowl of the instant ramen that the Briefs kept in their kitchen cabinet when he saw Trunks storm out of his mother’s room. The blonde had heard angry shouting coming from the room, but decided not to butt into somebody’s business for once, especially since he was a visitor in their home.

But, when his friend had an issue, that’s where he got involved.

“Hey Trunks, wait up!” Naruto called out as Trunks left out the front door. The blonde chased after him.

Trunks was walking through the forest as he seethed over what Bulma said. How could she just give up? How could she just turn her back on all of the people that him and his master fought to protect? That the  _ original  _ Z-Fighters fought to protect? How could she just let the billions of lives that were lost go unavenged? It was so infuriating that the teen could scream.

He didn’t even notice the footsteps running up behind him, “Trunks, are you okay, what’s wrong?” Naruto tried asking his friend.

The demi-saiyan shook his head, “You wouldn’t understand. Just...forget about it.” He couldn’t deny that Naruto had a bit of a hard time understanding... _ complex _ things, and to try explaining his situation would only give the blonde a headache. That was, if the Uzumaki himself didn’t think Trunks a lunatic.

An angry grunt escaped Naruto’s mouth as he moved to walk ahead of Trunks, “You could at least give me a chance. Trust me, I’m not as stupid as most people think.”

Trunks stopped walking. “I’m not from around here and I can’t go home, get it?”

“Duh, I already knew that. I just saw you make a house pop out of a pill. And even then, that house had a bunch of futuristic crap that I would only see in a manga. So you might as well just spill it and tell the truth.” Naruto ordered.

Trunks knew he was beat. Naruto  _ did  _ just see the capsule house. He  _ did  _ just see the inside of his capsule house. He braced himself for Naruto’s outburst and insults to his sanity at this next one, “Fine, what if I told you that I’m not from this world? That I’m from another dimension. You believe that?”

.

.

.

Naruto’s face hadn’t changed, “...Yeah...I do.”

XXX

A/N: And this is where we end this chapter. So, Bulma’s awake and has been introduced to the elemental nations. The whole ‘Warp Capacitor’ thing was a big throwback to ‘Back to the Future’s ‘Flux Capacitor’, for those who aren’t movie savvy. 

If you’ve never seen that movie… what?

Anyways, catch you guys later!


	11. Chapter 11

XXX

It'd been four days since Bulma awoke from the hospital and Trunks having revealed the truth of his origins to Naruto. The saiyan made the Uzumaki swear up and down that he wouldn't tell anyone else. Naruto took offense to Trunks not trusting him, the Jinchuriki saying, "_Hey I told you I wouldn't tell anyone, didn't I? I never go back on my word!" _It wasn't like one could fault the demi-saiyan for being cautious, he just couldn't have him and his mother's reputations destroyed.

What little reputation they had, anyways.

Team 7 was completing their daily routine of lame D-rank missions; missions that included babysitting, painting fences, and sweeping up dog stool from the local parks. During the missions, Naruto would always have some new question about Trunks' world. Luckily, the Uzumaki knew to whisper it so the others didn't bombard them with questions. He'd ask questions along the lines of,

"_Did your world have giant spaceships?"_

"_Was everyone able to fly there?_

"_Did people have watches built into their brain so they could tell time without a watch?"_

"_How was the ramen in your world?"_

With the blonde being his friend, Trunks had no issue answering the innocent (yet ludicrous) questions. The swordsman just didn't want to imagine the stress he would go through if Sasuke, Sakura, and Kakashi started interrogating him.

After picking up the last bit of waste from the playground, the team turned in their scoopers. Luckily for Kakashi, nothing in his job description said he had to do the lame tasks with his Genin, so he was aloud to kick back and read his erotic books in peace. "Alright team, that was our last mission for today. You're all dismissed." Sakura looked as if she was ready to leap and shout for joy, quickly following after Sasuke who was storming away from his team.

As Trunks and Naruto turned to leave, Kakashi called after them, "Naruto, Trunks," The Jonin nodded his head the opposite direction, a sign that the two teenagers should follow him.

While leaving the park with the Jonin, Naruto asked, "Soooo what are we doing, sensei?" Naruto asked his leader.

Not even turning his direction, the jonin answered, "Remember when we were on the boat during our trip to wave?" Trunks and Naruto nodded, "And do you remember when I said that I knew a couple of people that could help you with your kenjutsu skills?" A look of remembrance crossed both boys features before they smiled and nodded their heads. Kakashi eye smiled, "Good. We're about to meet them, right now."

The two boys looked to each other and grinned, this was gonna be awesome.

Eventually the trio made their way to the same training ground that they used for the bell test. When they got there, they saw two people, a man and a woman. The woman had straight, purple hair reaching down to her waist, warm brown eyes, and a shade of red lipstick. The man appeared to be rather sickly, with short brown hair protruding from his forehead protector that he wore as a bandana, dark brown eyes, and dark markings under his eyes. The two wore the standard shinobi outfit with a flak jacket and shinobi sandals.

"Naruto, Trunks, I would like to introduce you to Yugao Uzuki and Hayate Gekko. Konoha's kenjutsu specialists." Kakashi said, stepping to the sidelines.

"Sup." Naruto said with his arms folded, trying the 'too cool for school bad-boy' approach.

Trunks took the more polite route by giving a slight bow, "Hello, it's an honor to train with you today."

"Likewise." Hayate said with a slight bow. Yugao doing the same. Hayate turned to his lover, "I'll take the Uzumaki and teach him the fundamentals, you can take the Briefs boy since he already has a sword." The man tossed Naruto a ninjato that he kept holstered in his waist. Naruto, after catching the small sword, grinned like a madman making Kakashi and Trunks sweatdrop.

Hopefully Hayate had a lot of patience.

Hayate led the blonde to a space away from Yugao and Trunks so he can instruct in peace.

Yugao approached Trunks, "So, Trunks was it, let me see your blade." The demi-saiyan did as he was told and slid the sword from the holster behind his back, handing it to the purple haired ANBU. The woman studied the blade, "Hm, a longsword with a black leather hilt and a metal bar as the handguard. Not bad. The edge is unbelievably sharp," She ran a finger along the edge of the metal, "I'd say you could slice through metal with this with just a bit of effort. Whoever crafted this sword was a master."

The fact that she was complimenting Tapion's sword made the demi-saiyan feel warm inside.

"Alright," Yugao handed the sword back to Tunks, "we're gonna have a little spar, just so I can know where your skill level is." She stood away from the demi-saiyan and pulled out her own sword.

"W-Wait, you don't think that us sparring with actual swords is, I dunno, a _little _bit dangerous?" Trunks said hesitantly.

"It's _just _a sword spar. No ninjutsu, none of your ki techniques, this is just you and me clashing blades in an effort for me to see where you stand." Yugao took a fighting stance with her sword, "Trust me, I won't kill you."

Trunks nodded. He took a fighting stance as well, leveling his sword out in front of him at an angle. From his point of view the line of the blade split vertically down Yugao, showing a mirror image of the woman. Trunks squashed his power to as low as it would go.

With a nod from the Anbu woman, Trunks sprinted at her, swinging his blade in a horizontal arc that the woman effortlessly blocked, the clang of metal echoing from the collision.

The fact that the woman managed to block his blade so effortlessly surprised Trunks. Sure, he wasn't putting any of his abnormal amounts of strength behind the swing, but he thought that he would have came in fast enough to catch the woman off guard. Frowning, Trunks hopped back and went in with a flurry of swings, the Anbu woman being more that capable of parrying and weaving them all.

The demi-saiyan swung his sword down in a vertical arc that Yugao lazily blocked, the woman then swup the blade out of his hand, letting it fall to the ground. The next thing the saiyan knew was he was lying on his ass after having his legs swept from under him and the tip of a sword pointing mere centimeters from his face.

"I guess it's safe to say that your skills... are rather poor." Yugao admitted, making Trunks sigh in disappointment. She sheathed her sword before picking up Trunks', "But that's what I'm here for." She said as took a knee and ran her fingers through his lavender hair, handing him his sword. "I'm gonna run you through a set of katas that'll help hone your form, because the main reason I laid you out the way I did, was because you had none." Trunks nodded and stood up, determined to improve his skills.

"Now, copy my form." Yugao stood next to Trunks and took the same kenjutsu stance that she held just moments ago, the demi-saiyan copying her, "Good. I'll do a move and you'll repeat it after me. Understand?"

"Yes sensei." Trunks nodded.

Hayate began instructing Naruto on the basics of kendo. Giving tips on the proper stance to hold a sword, when to engage the enemy, and how to respect the blade. It was strange, because with any other period of teachings or lectures the advice would go through one ear and out the other with the Uzumaki, but when it came to training or learning new combat styles the blonde was all ears. That was just evidence of his worth as a shinobi.

"*Cough cough* Now, something that every *cough* kendoist must remember is ki, mind, ken, sword, tai, body, ichi, one. Mind, sword, and *cough* body are one." Hayate lectured.

'This guy really needs a cough drop.' Naruto grimaced.

Hayate continued, "The most important way for you *cough* to utilize this mindset is by staying calm and relaxed… which I assume is not your strong suit." Naruto deadpanned. "I'm just being honest." A small smirk flashed on the man's face. "What I want you to do now, is to meditate."

"What? That's lame! I wanna slice stuff, how's meditating gonna help me do that?" The blonde groaned.

"*cough* Remember what I said about a swordsman needing to utilize not just body, but _mind _as well? The fact that you're very unruly and wild means that your technique will be just that. And a swordsman with *cough* discipline in his style will always trump you."

Naruto sighed. It made enough sense to him, even though he didn't like it. He sat down on the grass and folded his legs. Luckily the academy taught him how to meditate so he did just that.

By the time the day was over Trunks had managed to pick up on a few basic katas and sword fighting forms and Naruto managed to grasp just the basics of kenjutsu mechanics, although he did catch on faster than expected and learned a lot. Both boys managed to take home with them a considerable amount of knowledge for a first day tutor session.

A star filled night sky made the walk back home for Trunks Brief ever the more tranquil. Most people would have found walking through the woods at night to be rather...haunting. But the saiyan found the hissing of cicadas and shifting of the tree leaves from the wind to be pretty soothing.

The capsule house that he had come to call his home still had lights on, as shown from the luminosity coming through the windows. As he came through the automatic door he could hear dishes shifting around in the kitchen.

"Well look who decided to come back home at _11 o'clock _at night!" Bulma called in a mock serious tone, making Trunks smile. The saiyan walked into the kitchen to see his mom taking out the dishes from their rather large dishwasher, custom built to hold the immense amount of dishes that the teenager would accumulate from his extreme appetite.

The fact that Naruto came over for dinner one night didn't help matters either. The Briefs woman didn't seem to have an issue with it. She was just glad to be able to cook something that wasn't rations again. Not to mention she could finally walk on her own.

"Nice to see you too, mom." Trunks said as he kicked off his shoes into a spot on the floor. He then took a seat on one of the bar stools that were against the small bar shelf that separated the kitchen from the living room.

"You know it's not like your sensei, jonin, whatever to send you home this late. Any reason why?" Bulma asked, her voice dripping with suspicion.

"Nothing really. Just had to stay after with Naruto for a training exercise." Trunks said innocently.

Bulma paused, "_Suuurree_," She said in a sardonic tone, "And there wouldn't happen to be any _girls _at this particular training session? Were there?"

Trunks cheeks turned red, "N-No. Besides, what would be the big deal if there was?"

"I'm just teasing you kid. The reason I'm asking is because I wanna know if you have a girlfriend...well, do you?"

Trunks' face turned even redder, "No I don't." He huffed, "It's not like I really want one right now anyways."

"Why not? You're a handsome guy so I know you get approached by a lot of them."

The demi-saiyan couldn't deny that, a lot of girls in the village had a habit of approaching him when he was alone. It was only when he was around Sasuke that the attention was directed away from him. But then, it's not like he ever had the chance to have a girlfriend back home. "Still, dating someone's the last thing on my mind right now."

Bulma sighed, "If you say so son, but eventually you're gonna want one. You've been here long enough that I'm sure you've found one to be _sort of_ cute."

Trunks mind went back to that blonde girl at the flower shop. She was really nice to him and he couldn't deny that she was… interesting to look at. But he didn't think he had any true feelings for her after just one encounter.

"Anyways," Bulma put away the last of the dishes, closing the dishwasher door, "I'm going to bed. Before you come back home tomorrow pick up some tea. Night." The blue-haired woman went to her room and the saiyan went to his. He did make sure to shower before crawling in bed.

XXX

The four days of training that followed consisted of the two friends practicing katas and enhancing their technique. Nothing special.

The fifth day, on the other hand…

"Alright Naruto, Trunks, I've given you both enough time to improve your kendo." Yugao said to the two boys standing in front of her, "Now it's time to see just how much you've both have improved." She unsheathed her sword as Trunks and Naruto did the same. "Oh, I almost forgot to mention, if you show me that your skills have gotten better, then tomorrow we'll take the opportunity to show you both a few tricks not known by many swordsman, kay?"

"Yes sensei." Naruto and Trunks said in unison.

Hayate stood on the sidelines. He offered to take the position of sparring against the two genin but Yugao insisted. It didn't really make a difference to the sickly man, their skills were still amateur compared to his lovers. Still, if one of them could so much as knick her clothes then it'll mean that they came far in the few days they've been training. Even though they did train for four straight hours each day.

"Strike when ready!" Yugao ordered.

The genin friends sprinted in with their blades drawn, the speed which they were moving making their bodies move in blurs. Trunks leapt into the air and came down with his blade in an arc. The anbu managed to block the strike just as she felt a presence appear behind her.

A swift back kick managed to knock Naruto away.

The fact that she managed to hold Trunks at bay while still striking Naruto showed the amount of skill she had.

Both teens began moving in blurs trying to get at least one cut on the Anbu, but Yugao was more than capable of fending them off.

Trunks and Naruto eventually got knocked back at the same time. Side by side the two stood, swords at the ready to engage their opponent.

"Damn, there's no way we're going to hit her. She's just way out of our league." Naruto huffed.

"What!? You're not complaining during a fight are you? That's not the Naruto I know." Trunks said in mock shock with a small smirk on his face.

"*pfft* You know who you're talking to? I'm not complaining, we just need another way to come at her."

Trunks smirked, "I think we should bend the rules a little. Maybe give ourselves a _numbered _advantage?"

"You mean cheat?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know if I like using that word, but hey, I fight to win."

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Naruto smirked before he crossed his fingers, "**Shadow Clone Jutsu!"** six grinning shadow clones appeared lining up next to Naruto, all armed with swords.

Yugao raised an eyebrow, 'I thought I said no jutsu allowed?'

With a battlecry the clones charged at the Anbu, their blades drawn to attack. The fact that she was outnumbered and had enemy's coming from all around made the Anbu have to put in a lot more effort to defend herself.

'Interesting, they've decided to give themselves a tactical advantage with numbers.' Hayate noted. He also saw that the two genin were waiting for something, perhaps the right moment to attack?

"NOW!" Trunks shouted as Yugao reduced the onslaught of clones down to its last two.

The demi-saiyan and the jinchuriki once again rushed at the purple haired woman in a blur. The instant she sliced down the last two bunshin she felt a presence in front and behind her. Not having the chance to defend herself properly a blur managed to slice the fabric in the back of her jacket and another blur sliced the fabric in the front of her jacket.

Trunks and Naruto fazed in, sheathing their swords.

Yugao smiled before sheathing her own sword, "You both actually managed to make a cut on me. Congratulations. That shows you've both grown considerably since your first session."

The two genin bumped fists. They knew they could do it. Now, what tricks did Hayate and Yugao know that would be useful to them?

The next day Naruto and Trunks stood before Hayate and Yugao.

It was decided that the jonin would work with Naruto first, "Alright Naruto, we've decided to introduce you to a new sword based ninjutsu." Yugao said, making Naruto grow more excited. Hayate held out his sword so that Naruto could see clearly what he was about to do.

A visible blue flame of chakra enveloped the metal and grew sharper, materializing until it was in the shape of a blade that was longer than the sword itself.

"Whoa…" Trunks and Naruto said in awe.

Hayate let the tip of the chakra enhanced blade touch the ground, it sinking right through like a hot knife in butter. "We call this the Flying Swallow, it's a technique that allows your sword to cut through almost anything with little effort. The mechanics of this technique is rather simple, *cough* just surge your chakra through your blade until it becomes dense enough to be visible. And seeing as you have an abnormally high level of chakra, you're one of the few genin who could pull off this technique, Naruto." Hayate said. "Also, judging by the amount of chakra control that you have, *cough*, you can increase the length of the blade." Hayate let the chakra blades length grow just a few more inches.

The sickly man approached a large round boulder sticking out of the ground, and with a quick swing of his sword, leveled the top of it. He picked up the cleanly cut off piece of the rock that landed on the ground a few feet away, and held it up to the genin so they could get a good look at what the technique was capable of.

Naruto grew as giddy as a schoolgirl over a boyband. The blonde removed his blade and immediately started pouring his chakra into it. Now he was grateful for Kakashi teaching him tree climbing, because that gave him just the chakra control he needed to pull off the technique.

With wide eyes, Naruto watched as his ninjato grew out lined in a blue chakra flame, the flame condensing until it was just as thin as his own sword, but double in length and even pointier at the tip. The blondes eyes sparkled as he drooled fell from his mouth in awe.

Yugao couldn't help but smile at the blondes reaction. She turned to Trunks, "I also want to experiment with a new technique for you. The only thing is, since you can't use chakra, there's no absolute way for me to know how successful this will be."

"I'll appreciate your effort either way." Trunks said.

Yugao cleared her throat before speaking, "From what I know of your ki attacks, you're able to infuse it with another objects. Try it with your sword like Naruto did."

Trunks held up Tapion's sword and began transferring his ki into it. A blue-yellow flame surrounded the sword but the demi-saiyan found himself unable to condense it into a 'Ki blade', like Naruto could with his 'Chakra blade'. For him, all it was, was a sword outlined with his life force.

"So it's just as I thought. But then again, I always believed ki needed to have kinetic force acting on it for you to utilize it's abilities." Yugao said. She looked out at a lone tree that was a fair distance away. All of its leaves were gone and the bark was dead so it was really an eyesore. No one would miss it. She nodded towards the dead oak, "Charge your sword with your chakra again." Once again the demi-saiyans sword was outlined in his ki, "Now, swing it in the direction of that tree."

The saiyan had an idea of where she was going with this. He drew his sword to the side and slashed the air, sending a thin wave of ki from the metal that flew through the air and sliced through the tree, leaving a smooth and flat stump sticking out of the dirt.

An accomplished grin split the saiyans mouth. He just learned a new technique.

"Whoa Trunks, that was awesome!" Naruto congratulated the saiyan, having watched him perform the move.

"Thanks dude, but yours is really cool too!" Trunks said back.

"Think you can do it again?" Naruto asked, eager to watch the display again.

Yugao smirked to her lover at her own accomplishment. She just managed to teach somebody a new technique, with a power source she couldn't even use herself!

Trunks took another stance. He trained his focus on the lush forest that the training ground was surrounded by. He swung his blade numerous times in a rapid motion, sending out blue blades of ki that sliced through trees and sent them crashing to the ground.

The four could hear the sound of some trees falling in the distance, meaning that the attack was capable of traveling a great distance before dispersing.

"Hm, well it looks like you *cough* both have something unique to take away from this training." Hayate pointed out. Naruto had a sword that he could make slice through virtually anything, and Trunks had a new ki attack that could level a forest.

Both boys smirked to each other, "Oh yeah."

XXX

A/N: I hate filler. Anyways, since Lightning Sword Slash technically isn't a canon Trunks technique, I figured I'd allow him to learn it in story. That fair?

The Chunin exams begin next chapter.


	12. Chapter 12

XXX

A meeting was held in the hokage's office. Every leading Jonin was called in to discuss… a rather important event that would be taking place in the village after the next few days.

Hiruzen sat at his desk, crystal ball placed in the center of it. Every Jonin in the village stood in front of the fire shadow. "As you can tell, I have summoned you all here for a very important purpose. I assume you all know what this is about?" The Hokage stated more than asked.

"So soon? I thought we'd have a little more time." Kakashi said, more to himself than anyone else.

Asuma pulled the cigarette from his mouth before he spoke, "I take it all the other lands have been notified as well. I've noticed some of their genin have been roaming the village."

"So, when do we start?" Kurenai asked.

Hiruzen blew a trail of smoke from his mouth, "Take heed, exactly 7 days from today, on the first day of July, the Genin will be gathered and tested. Only the very best will be selected as Chunin." Every Jonin nodded as a response. "Now, it is time we chose our candidates for the Chunin examination. Will the three responsible for the rookie Genin please step forward." Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi all stepped forward at the same time. "What do you say? Are there any in your squads that you recommend, despite their inexperience? As you know, any Genin that has carried out 8 or more missions is _technically _eligible for these examinations. Beyond that, only you can decide when they are ready. Of course, most Genin require a longer training period, at least twice that many." The man's eyes trailed to Kakashi to start, "What do you say?"

"I lead squad 7; Uchiha Sasuke, Brief Trunks, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki Naruto. I, Kakashi Hatake recommend these three for the Chunin selection examinations."

Iruka's eyes widened in shock. How could Kakashi recommend his team with that kind of inexperience like that? He hoped that Kurenai and Asuma weren't planning the same thing.

"I lead squad 8; Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hyuuga Hinata. I, Kurenai Yuhi recommend all three."

"I lead squad 10, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Choji, and Nara Shikamaru. I, Asuma Sarutobi recommend my Genin as well."

Iruka had enough, "Now wait a minute!" He stepped forward, "Lord Hokage, with all due respect, the nine out of ten names listed were all my students for _years. _I know their skills better than anyone. They need more experience before they are tested. If they try now they are doomed to fail."

"I became a Chunin at the age of 6." Kakashi said matter of factly. "I was actually 7 years younger than Naruto is now."

"Naruto is nothing like you!" Iruka barked. He stepped forward, "Are you trying to destroy him?"

"No, but he's always complaining about not being challenged enough. Maybe wiping out on the exams will teach him a lesson. A little pain is good sometimes."

"Wh-What did you say?" Iruka said in disbelief.

"It's not like I meant anything fatal of course. But seriously Iruka, relax. I know how you feel, this is very personal for you and it upsets you but-"

"Alright Kakashi, back off. You've said enough." Kurenai said.

"On the contrary Kurenai. I think Iruka needs to hear this. He needs to realize they're not his students anymore. They're _mine_."

Kurenai sighed in defeat. Kakashi had a point. Iruka obviously knew that as he was brought speechless, the only thing him being able to do was grit his teeth in anger.

Hiruzen sighed, "You have both made your point. Accordingly I have decided that the best thing to do is hold a preliminary test."

"P-Preliminary test?" said Iruka.

XXX

Team 7 was waiting impatiently on a small bridge built upon a stream. Sasuke leaned against the orange railing while Trunks was doing one armed push ups. Naruto and Sakura paced back and forth, only growing angrier as time went by.

"Aaaahhhh!" Sakura screeched, "Why is he always setting times and we have to wait hours for it!?"

"It's not fair!" Naruto declared.

"What about my feelings, I didn't even have time to blow dry my hair this morning!" Sakura shot at Naruto.

"And I didn't even have time to brush my teeth or change my underwear!" Naruto shot back.

Sakura's eyes widened, "You didn't? That's...that's pretty gross naruto."

Sasuke rolled his eyes, 'It's this early in the morning and they're already driving me nuts.' He groaned in his head. The Uchiha's eyes grew trained on Naruto's ninjato that was holstered at his waist. His eyes narrowed. Why did Naruto have a sword? When did he even learn to use one?

Trunks wasn't paying attention to any of them. His blue track jacket was cast aside, hanging on the rail of the bridge, his black T-shirt soaked in sweat as he reached his 400th push up.

Footsteps brought everyone's attention to the end of the bridge, "Hi guys!" Kakashi's said with an eye smile, "Sorry I'm late. I got lost on the road to life."

"LIAR!" Naruto and Sakura roared, making the Jonin wiggle his ear in discomfort.

"I know this is a bit sudden, but I recommended the four of you for the Chunin Exams." He passed forward four slips of paper, "Here are the application forms."

Naruto' shouted and hugged Kakashi, "Alriiiight! Kakashi-sensei you rock!" Much to the dismay of his Jonin.

Kakashi dusted his jacket, hoping Naruto didn't slobber on it. "Whoever wants to take the exams, sign the application and come to room 301 at the Academy five days from now. The time is at 3 p.m."

Trunks put his jacket back on as he was handed the applicant sheet. 'Chunin Exams?'

Naruto was singing to himself, "Chunin, Chunin, I'm gonna be a Chunin."

XXX

Kakashi wound up back in the Hokage's office, receiving a summons. This time the office was empty, all of the Jonin having cleared out.

Hiruzen got straight to the point, "Kakashi, I notice we still have have yet to discuss Trunks-kun's little, transformation."

The Hatake hadn't forgot, "So do I. He and Naruto have been so busy with training the last few weeks that I suppose that's been my least priority."

The Hokage nodded, "I would still like to have a peek at it. Just so I know what the boy is capable of."

Kakashi gave a bow, "Yes Hokage-sama. I will fetch him at once."

XXX

After getting dissed by Sasuke for the 50th time, Sakura decided to stick around with Trunks and Naruto, knowing that Trunks wouldn't blow her off _and _deciding that putting up with Naruto's antics was worth it. The fact that she didn't feel that she was cut out for the Chunin exams while everyone else on her team was, put her in a blue mood. The three were walking down an alleyway.

"You ok Sakura?" Trunks asked. Naruto was too high on life and staring into the Chunin application form to notice, having read over the slip for the 100th time.

"It's nothing." Sakura said with a weak smile, not doing a good job at all to show that she was down.

The demi-saiyan knew he couldn't get the pinkette to talk if she didn't want to, so he just shrugged it off. Trunks and Naruto turned to the sound of shuffling coming from behind them.

What they saw was a square...rock?

Naruto's eyes narrowed, "You think I'm stupid? There's no such thing as square rock's, your disguise is totally obvious."

"_You saw through my camouflage again, you're good boss." _The box erupted in white smoke, revealing three knee high kids. "Just as I expect from my greatest rival!" The kid who spoke being a young boy with short spiky brown hair and black eyes. He also had a small chip in his tooth. His clothing was of a yellow shirt with the Konoha symbol in red, grey shorts, and a long blue scarf. His two friends was of a boy with glasses and a runny nose, and a girl with orange hair tied in two very large pig tails and blushing cheeks.

"Uh, Naruto, what's going on?" Trunks asked his friend.

The Uzumaki pointed to the kid in the middle, "That's just Konohamaru, the other two..." He trailed off, not having a clue as to who the other kids were.

"My names Moegi, the sassiest kunoichi in preschool!" The girl struck a pose.

"My names Udon, the smartest shinobi in preschool!" The other boy struck a pose.

"And the three of us together are the Konohamaru squad!" Konohamaru and his friend struck poses.

Naruto just folded his arms behind his head and stared at them, unimpressed to say the least. "Sure."

Konohamaru growled at Naruto's cold attitude. He then saw Trunks, "Who're you?" He pointed at the saiyan accusingly, having not seen him before.

"My name's Trunks. Nice to meet you, I guess." Trunks said awkwardly, having been put on the spot by an 8 year old. The kids then noticed Trunks longsword and Naruto's ninjato. "Whoa! When did you get a sword boss?!" Konohamaru asked as he reached for the Uzumaki's blade.

Feeling a lot cooler all of a sudden, Naruto smirked and pulled the sword from his waist, "I got some super special training over the last few weeks. Courtesy of Kakashi-sensei." He held up the sword so the kids could get a good look at it, their mouths drooling in awe.

"You guys should play ninja with us!" Udon said in anticipation.

"Ooh! I call being on Trunks team!" Moegi squealed as she ran over by the demi-saiyan.

Naruto held up his hands, "Wait a minute, hold on. We've got training to take care of, we can't just goof around."

"But you promised you would play ninja with us! You've been blowing us off every time I asked!" Konohamaru leveled an accusing finger at the Uzumaki.

The blonde rubbed the back of his head, 'Oh yeah. I have been promising I would play with them. But still, if I say yes these kids will start bugging me all day.'

"Hmph, a ninja playing ninja? That's so twisted." Sakura said bitterly as she dragged herself next to Trunks.

Konohamaru looked back and forth between Sakura and Naruto. "Hey boss, is that your girlfriend?"

Trunks eyes widened. This was gonna get really ugly, really fast. The killing intent that began to slowly leak out of Sakura only confirmed this.

Naruto gave a shit eating grin, "Well, what can I say, you can tell she's crazy about me." He nudged Trunks, "Right?"

"Please leave me out this please leave me out this please leave me out this!" Trunks begged. He looked at Sakura with his peripheral vision. If she was a saiyan, her hair would turn gold.

Konohamaru also grinned, "I see how it is, you're one smooth operator boss. I would have never guessed it."

Killing intent increased.

Naruto crossed his arms, "Yeah she's been in love with me ever since our days at the Academy."

'Oh God, gotta split!' Trunks yelled in his head.

"*psst*"

Trunks looked up to see Kakashi was in a tree, signaling for his attention. Sakura noticed this too, "Trunks, I would hurry if I were you." She growled with a demonic smirk plastered on her face.

Trunks fazed out, startling Naruto and the kids. "Hey Trunks, where'd you go?" Naruto asked, searching around. His blood ran cold as he heard the sound of knuckles cracking.

"You're mine now, _Naruto._" Sakura said with an evil smirk as she closed in the blonde. Konohamaru and his friends backed away fearfully.

"Mommy." Naruto squeaked with wide eyes.

XXX

"Whew, thanks for the save back there Kakashi." Trunks thanked the Jonin as they walked through the halls of the Hokage building.

"No big deal." The Jonin waved him off. "Sakura's one of two women in this village whose wrath I would not wanna witness." He shuddered at the thought of Anko. That woman may have been fun to be around, but boy, she could be downright _insane _and psychotic when she wanted to be.

The two walked into the Hokage's office.

"Trunks, it's nice to see you!" Hiruzen said with a grandfatherly like tone.

Trunks gave a bow, "It's nice to see you too Hokage-sama. What were you needing?" He was hoping he didn't sound rude.

"I was hoping I could see this transformation of yours. The report I was given tells me that it's quite the spectacle."

The saiyan knew this would come sooner or later. Trunks scratched the back of his head, "I could _try _to, but the thing is I haven't mastered it. It still takes me a moment to power up and transform."

Hiruzen took a pull on his pipe and grinned, "Just try it."

Trunks sighed before closing his eyes. He crossed his arms and squatted, going still.

Nothing happened for the next several seconds, making the Hokage begin to question Hatake's report, but then the objects on his desk began to rattle, and then every object in his room began to shake. The air grew warm as a popping noise resonated from the teenager before a burst of gold light flashed from his body, making the elderly man and Kakashi shield their eyes.

What Hiruzen saw in Trunks place was a being with spiked gold hair and emerald eyes. A fiery aura hugged the boys body that chirped with each roll of the flame-like aura.

The pipe almost fell out of Hiruzen's mouth. He could almost _taste _the power the newcomer beheld. It was easily worthy of a bijuu.

"Would you mind showing me a demonstration?" The Third asked. He had to have just a glimpse at what the boy was capable of.

Without a word, Trunks held out his fingers, and gave a slight wave.

A gust of wind swept through the office and knocked the things off Hiruzen's desk, it actually nearly knocked off the Hokage's haori.

"That good enough?" Trunks's now gravelly voice asked.

The Third grinned, "It's splendid. I take it you gain quite a boost to your power with this, _super saiyan _form of yours." The word saiyan was so unfamiliar it felt awkward saying it.

"It boosts my power by 5000%," Trunks let the transformation drop, letting his features revert to normal, "At least, that's what my master told me."

"Well I for one can't wait to see it in action. You will be taking the exams correct?"

Trunks nodded, "Yes sir, I can't wait."

"Neither can I. You're free to go now Trunks." The Hokage dismissed the saiyan who left out the door. Hiruzen took a puff on his pipe.

"So, think we should be worried." The Hatake asked the Hokage.

"For what purpose should we be? He has proven himself to have a good heart and his power is within our jurisdiction." Hiruzen let out a puff of smoke.

"I'm not worried about us... I'm worried about the unlucky examinees that'll have to face him."

XXX

When the demi-saiyan exited the building he was overcome with a dreadful feeling. The feeling that something bad was about to happen. He searched for Naruto's Ki and could sense a particularly hostile one around around him.

"Damn!" Trunks cursed before he fazed out.

XXX

"Put him down!" Naruto shouted at a teenager wearing a black baggy body suit with a hood and face paint.

Said boy was holding Konohamaru off the ground by the scruff of his scarf, while Udon, Moegi, and Sakura looked on in worry.

"Just put him down Kankuro or you're gonna get in trouble." A teenage girl with blonde hair tied in four pigtails warned. She had green eyes and a large fan attached to her back.

"Relax Temari, I'm just having a little fun before he gets here." Kankuro said with a grin before tightening his grip on Konohamaru, making the boy wheeze in pain. The action made Naruto growl in anger.

The Uzumaki pulled out his ninjato, "That's it, drop him now or I'll take you apart! You got that bastard!?"

Kankuro grinned, "Ooh, scary." He said mockingly, "I think I wanna see you try." He pulled back his fist and aimed it at Konohamaru's face.

However before he could do anything a ki blast flew in his face, making the Suna teen cry out and drop Konohamaru.

"It's easy to pick on the weak." Trunks gently touched down, landing on the soles of his feet. "Now try someone who can fight back."

"Trunks-kun!" Sakura and Moegi squealed with hearts in their eyes.

Temari blushed, 'Well well local hottie.'

"Naruto, you move too slow. I could've got beat up and it would've been all your fault!" Konohamaru shouted angrily.

"Hey come on now, I was just building up a dramatic rescue, that's all." Naruto said with a fake smile, hoping he could win back the few members of his fan club that he had at the moment. "What the heck Trunks, you just stole my thunder!" Naruto barked.

The saiyan ignored him, watching as Kankuro angrily rubbed his face to make sure it wasn't burned or scarred.

The Suna nin said angrily, "You're the kind of pesky snot I hate the most, all attitude and nothing to back it up."

Trunks drew his sword, "You wanna fight me? Your funeral."

Kankuro smirked before pulling forth a bandaged apparatus from behind his back.

"Kankuro, you're seriously going to use the Crow for this?!" Temari asked in alarm, feeling her brother was taking this too far.

"This prick just pissed me off. I'm gonna make him- AAAUGHH!" A rock thrown with pinpoint accuracy shot into Kankuro's hand as he began unravelling the instrument. The Suna-nin rubbed his hand in an attempt to make it feel better.

All eyes went to Sasuke, who sat upon a tree branch bouncing a rock in his hand. "You're a long way from home and you're way out of your league." The Uchiha crushed the rock into dust, "Get lost."

Kankuro's face was red from embarrassment and anger. He just got shown up twice! He was gonna-

"You're a disgrace to our village Kankuro." A voice said a few feet from Sasuke, sending a chill down the Uchiha's spine.

When everyone looked at the voice they saw a boy with dark circles around his eyes, red hair, and a kanji on his forehead standing upside down on a tree branch. He also carried a large gourd on his back. By just looking at him you could tell he didn't get much sleep.

"Losing yourself in a fight, how pathetic." He continued, Why do you think we came here in the first place?"

"B-But, G-Garra, th-they started it." Kankuro stuttered, he and his sisters eyes showing obvious fear.

"Shut up or I'll kill you." The redhead ordered, surprising everyone that he could treat his own teammates like that.

'To sneak up on me like that... that's Kakashi level stealth.' Sasuke thought.

'I couldn't even sense him.' Trunks thought.

The sand Genin disappeared in a swirl of sand and reappeared in front of his teammates, "My apologies for the trouble he caused." Gaara's eyes traveled between Trunks and Sasuke, 'What Jutsu did he use to hit Kankuro with? And that other guy managed to stop Kankuro with just a pebble. They're both people I need to keep an eye on.' Gaara turned around, "Let's go."

"Wait." Sasuke jumped down from his position on the tree, "I'm assuming you're here for the Chunin exams?"

Gaara nodded, "Yes. I take it you all will be competing as well?"

Sasuke, Naruto, and Trunks nodded.

"So what's your name?" Trunks asked.

"You mean me?" Temari asked with hearts in her eyes.

"N-No, I mean the one with the gourd." Trunks said with a blush.

"Sabaku no Gaara." Gaara said, "You guys?"

"Trunks Briefs."

"Sasuke Uchiha."

"Naruto Uzumaki."

Gaara glared at Naruto "I didn't ask for yours." Before he turned on his heel and walked away with his siblings.

"We're gonna have to watch out for that guy." Sasuke said, narrowing his eyes.

Trunks nodded, "I agree. Something about him's...off."

"Yeah, did you see the way he threatened his own teammates?" Naruto pointed out.

"It's not even just that. All three of their life forces felt similar, so I'm willing to bet they were siblings." Trunks said, the realization making the situation that much darker.

"I-I think we should stay away from them. They seem really dangerous." Sakura said fearfully.

A smirk crossed Sasuke's lips, "Yeah right, I think I wanna see just what they're capable of."

Similar smirks made their way to Naruto and Trunks features. Trunks' smirk looked very similar to his father's.

'Oh brother.' Sakura grimaced. Something told her these upcoming exams were going to be a bumpy ride.

XXX

It was now the day of the exams and Team 7 made to meet in front of the academy doors. Trunks managed to tell his mom that he would be gone for the next few days, not that she hadn't gotten used to the saiyan leaving for missions. The team walked down the hallway, Trunks and Naruto discussing what they did to prepare while Sasuke decided to keep that business to himself. Sakura didn't have much of anything to say, still wondering why she was sticking around when she would just hold her teammates back.

The four went up a set of stairs to enter a hall that was cluttered with people. Everyone appeared to be gathered around a room with the sign '301' above the door, with two Chunin barring the way. Trunks had no idea what was going on.

"Wait," the demi-saiyan whispered to his team, "I thought we only went up one floor?"

Sasuke nodded, "We did. These guys are using a genjutsu and everyone in this room walked right into it."

Trunks nodded. He knew that most genjutsu couldn't affect him, and since this was the most basic one, he saw that the room said '201' instead of '301'.

"We still need to go through that door, don't we?" Sakura asked.

"Yup. Let's break the charade." Sasuke said as he and his team moved through the crowd.

A genin was knocked back by one of the chunin guarding the entry door. The bushy-browed boy landed in front of his teammates. One of the shinobi's partners, a girl with two hair buns and a pink sleeveless blouse glared at the two chunin who hit her teammate.

"Please let us in. We're _supposed_ to go in there." The girl pleaded.

One of the chunin taunted, "Tsk. You're taking the chunin exams but you can't even pass us?!"

The girl growled and tried to get in herself, however the result ended the same. The other ninja who were surrounding the door gazed on in fear, awed at how harsh the Chunin were being towards Genin.

"Heh, you think that's harsh?! Don't kid yourself, we're doing you a favor. The exams are gonna make this look like a picnic." The Chunin with bandages on his face said, trying to strike fear into the contenders' hearts.

"A lot of you won't survive." The Chunin with a blue bandana-styled headband warned, "Others of you will be disfigured for life, and some of you will go crazy."

"For Chunin, it's always life or death. You think it's a joke?! Chunin lead missions. If you aren't up to par, you could get yourself and your entire team killed."

Team 7 approached the Chunin. Sasuke decided to end this stupid charade right now.

"Real nice speech." The sole surviving Uchiha said as he began walking towards the door, "Now both of you step aside and let us through." he ordered.

The saiyan stepped up behind him, "And while you're at it, reverse the genjutsu. We can see through your lame illusion anyway. Besides, we're going to the _third_ floor." Trunks ordered with a glare.

This surprised the others in the room. This whole time...it was a genjutsu?! And they fell for it. The Chunin however were the least shocked by this.

"Well well, you noticed the genjutsu huh?" Kotetsu, the bandaged Chunin asked.

Sasuke smirked and looked to Sakura and Naruto. "Go ahead you two, you noticed the genjutsu before anyone else did. I'm sure you noticed it too Sakura, you have the best analytical skills and the sharpest eyes in our squad. You must've saw this coming a mile away."

"O-Of course! Sure! I spotted it right away! This is only the second floor!" Sakura said as if she _really_ knew it all along.

"R-Right!" Naruto agreed.

Sasuke wasn't done there as he turned to Trunks and smirked at the two chunin. "And you can forget about lying. Our other teammate here...is immune to genjutsu."

Once more this shocked the spectators in the hall. Even the ninja in the green jumpsuit was surprised by this information. His teammate with pearl colored eyes looked at the demi saiyan in surprise. Trunks was just shocked that Sasuke was giving him props.

'A ninja...who is immune to genjutsu?!' The bowl-cut genin thought. 'Is that...even possible?!' He looked at the Uchiha and the Saiyan; he had to know who they were.

Meanwhile, the genjutsu was undone much to everyone's joy. The Chunin with spiky hair grinned at Sasuke, "Alright. You've noticed a basic illusion. Big deal." Then his fists balled, "Now...let's see you deal with this!" The Chunin shouted as he went to go attack Sasuke with a spinning kick.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he planned to block the attack with a kick of his own. However, the shinobi with the green jumpsuit came in between them and stopped both of their attacks with his hands.

'How...How'd he do that?' Sakura thought. 'I thought he was some weakling getting knocked over. But he's as fast as Sasuke-kun.'

The ninja let go of their legs as the two fighters both backed away from each other, the chunin flipping back to his previous spot.

'He stopped _my_ kick. That's some serious chakra he's got in his arm.' Sasuke thought while he gritted his teeth. 'The only people I know who can do that, are Kakashi and Trunks.'

The pearl-eyed Genin walked up to his teammate, arms crossed. "Hey. What happened to the plan? I thought you were the one who said '_Keep a low profile and don't let anyone see our skill level_.'?" Neji asked.

The bushy brow ninja sighed and looked down in shame. "I know, BUT..." He then began to blush as he got an eyeful of Sakura.

The girl with the two haired buns sighed and shook her head. "Just forget it..."

Sasuke noticed that the bushy browed ninja had no more bruises on his face where the chunin had attacked him from before. 'What happened to the bruises on his face?! They're gone.'

'This guy's something else. I need to keep an eye out for him too.' Trunks thought while he narrowed his eyes on the bushy brow ninja.

The spandex-clad ninja walked up to Sakura with utmost courage, blushing all the while, "My name is Rock Lee. You're Sakura, correct?" He asked.

'What does this clown think he's doing?' Naruto thought, staring hard at the genin.

"Uh huh..." Sakura said; feeling increasingly uncomfortable.

Lee smirked and struck a pose. "Please be my girlfriend! I vow to protect you with my life!" He declared as his teeth sparkled for some odd reason.

Trunks eye twitched, shocked at the turn of events as he looked to Sakura. 'Oh boy, this isn't gonna end well...' He thought.

Sakura's eyes widened, before she glared at him judgingly "Definitely...Not."

"Why!?..." Lee asked, his voice heartbroken.

"Because you're a weirdo." Sakura replied flatly.

Trunks hissed from the response, feeling that burn himself. He looked at the depressed, heartbroken form of Lee and couldn't help but feel bad for the guy. Naruto however, laughed at the weirdo's misfortune.

Lee's teammates walked up to Sasuke and Trunks, with the teammate with pearl-like eyes demanding to know who Trunks and Sasuke were.

Naruto noticed this and growled. Even though Trunks was practically his best friend, the blonde couldn't help but feel he was being overshadowed by him. The saiyan had gained much more attention and praise, being able to keep up with Kakashi and almost killing Zabuza. That's why he secretly made it his personal goal to not only become Hokage and beat Sasuke, but to surpass Trunks as well.

Sasuke and Trunks turned to the two and stared at them.

"It's common courtesy to give your own names before asking somebody else's." Sasuke replied.

"And besides... what if we just don't tell you." Trunks replied with his Vegeta-like smirk.

"You two are rookies… how old are you anyway?" Neji demanded more than asked.

"We're not obliged to answer..." Sasuke replied.

"What was that?!" Neji growled.

The girl with hair buns giggled and blushed at their coolness. 'Cute' She thought. She then noticed that Naruto and Trunks were carrying swords. Since Trunks was closer, she decided to ask him about it.

"Hey! You with the sword on you back. Where did you get that cool sword?" She approached Trunks, "I'm Tenten by the way. And this is Neji, he's of the Hyuga Clan." She said.

The saiyan didn't like this. All of the attention was suddenly dropped right on his head. He hated this, but he sighed and decided to answer the girl.

"Alright then, the name's Trunks. Trunks Brief and this sword was given to me by a friend." He unsheathed his sword while Tenten took a look at it. Then she asked a surprising question.

"Can I hold it?"

"W-What?!"

"Can I hold your sword and observe it. Trust me, nothing nefarious." She said as she crossed her fingers behind her back.

Sasuke noticed and narrowed his eyes. The Uchiha knew the girl was lying. But he knew full well that the demi-saiyan could handle himself. Sasuke witnessed Trunks strength first hand at the Academy and was completely surprised of the saiyan's capabilities. He also found out that the half-saiyan had a kekkei genkai, called Super Saiyan. A kekkei genkai that could increase your abilities by 50x it's base power. He wished to see it in action, and wondered if it could match his sharingan. Trunks immediately became Sasuke's rival in hopes of surpassing him if the teen ever wanted to beat Itachi.

The son of Vegeta grinned and tossed the sword to Tenten, who, although caught it, was surprised at how easily the Briefs boy just handed it over. She looked over the blade and admired the texture of the hilt and the shine of metal.

"Pretty sharp. Strong enough to cut through steel I'd say. Who made it?" She asked.

Trunks shrugged. Truth be told, he never knew the original creator. He just thought it was a sword that Tapion was given one day.

Tenten's smile turned to a grin as she put on a challenging smirk. "Now, a good looking sword can't be without a great wielder. I want to test this blade on you and see if you're worthy of getting it back. Sound like a challenge?"

Sasuke sighed and looked at the two. This was wasting his time, but then again. He'd love to see how this turned out.

Trunks nodded and held out one hand, "Go for it. I'm ready. This is all I'll need to beat you." He smirked.

Tenten looked baffled. This boy wasn't bluffing. He genuinely believed he could take her with one hand. Even Neji believed it was ludicrous.

"Oh well, your funeral." She let out a battle cry and swung the sword at the Saiyan in a horizontal fashion. He grinned and stopped the blade cold with the palm of his hand. This made the onlookers gasp.

'W-Whoa...he wasn't kidding.' Tenten thought. She backed up and gulped.

'Immune to genjutsu and can block attacks with his hand... is this guy even human?!' Neji thought.

"Sorry, but I can't be playing around right now. So I'll be taking this back." Trunks said as he grabbed his sword from the girl. He tossed the blade up into the air and leaned to the right a bit as the blade landed right in its sheath. The ninja whispered amongst themselves, admiring the display of power, skill, and straight up badassery.

"Whoa, he's so cool..."

"Yeah… him and that other guy are dangerous."

"I hope I don't run into him."

'Tsk...Show off.' Sasuke rolled his eyes. He and Trunks walked by a depressed Lee and Naruto who were murmuring about something.

"Weirdo?" Lee repeated sadly.

"Ugh! No one wants to know my name..." Naruto grunted sadly.

Trunks smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Naruto, you'll make a name for yourself eventually. I promise."

Sakura smiled at the three boys "Trunks-Kun, Sasuke-Kun, Naruto. Come on let's go." Squad 7 left the other ninja and headed towards the third floor, waiting for the chunin exams to begin.

Unknown to all of them, the two chunin were peeking through a door, watching the whole event.

"So that's the bunch of misfits that Kakashi and Gai have been going on about. And that Trunks kid is with them too. Seems interesting." Said the chunin with the bandana tied to his head.

"I guess they passed their first test, getting their applications through."

The two chunin made a half tiger seal and undid their disguises. "Looks like the exams are gonna be fun this year with that kid around." Kotetsu commented.

"Fun for us, maybe. Not so much for them." Izumo replied.

Meanwhile, Lee and Neji were looking at the retreating backs of Sasuke and Trunks.

'Sasuke of the Uchiha Clan...and Trunks..." Neji thought.

Tenten got over her stupor of the events that transpired with Trunks. She looked at Neji and giggled a bit.

"They're pretty bold. You're gonna challenge them, too?" She teased a bit. Neji replied with a 'hmph' as he walked away with Tenten following. But not Lee, he decided to stay for some reason.

"Lee, what are you waiting for? We were supposed to check in." Tenten called back.

"I will catch up with you in a minute. There is something I need to check out." Lee said as he walked the opposite way.

Tenten looked at his retreating form and turned to Neji, "What's he up to?"

"I have no idea." Neji replied. Not really caring as he continue to walk off, with Tenten following him of course.

Meanwhile, Squad 7 were walking through a hall until someone shouted out for their attention.

"Hey! You with the attitude, and you with the sword! Hold on!"

The four looked up to see Lee standing at the balcony glaring down at Sasuke and Trunks.

Team 7 was a bit surprised to see him again. Sasuke shot him an annoyed glance and demanded, "What do you want?"

"I want to fight you, and the guy with the sword! Right here! Right now!" Lee retorted.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and looked at the green jumpsuit ninja. "You want to fight me here and now, huh?"

"Yes!" Lee said as he jumped off the balcony and landed on the floor, crouching. He stood up, determined glare hardening his features.

Lee held his thumb to himself and introduced himself. "My name is Rock Lee. You said it was common courtesy for challengers to give their names first, right? Sasuke Uchiha! And Trunks Brief!"

Trunks smirked at the ninja and decided to step in.

Lee got into a battle stance, glare unwavering "I challenge you, Sasuke! Trunks! Everyone is always talking about the legendary Uchiha clan and how great they are. Or the mysterious visitor that arrived out of nowhere. They say that he nearly killed one of the Seven Ninja of the Mist and assassinated a chunin effortlessly. I want to see if it's true. I figure you both would be a good test for me."

"You know… I'm kinda curious myself. You stopped Sasuke's kick, and that speed you displayed was impressive. Sure, I'll take you on." Trunks said as his saiyan blood begin to boil.

Lee blushed and looked at Sakura, while Sakura was understandably creeped out.

"Oh Sakura. I love you!" Lee confessed much to Sakura's horror.

"Aaaugh, your hairstyle is horrible, and those eyebrows are so bushy! You're such a weirdo!" She cringed while shivering at the thought of her and Lee dating. She would much rather date Naruto.

However her comments didn't affect him this time as he started to blow kisses which somehow converted into flying hearts.

'What the-? Is that a jutsu?' Trunks thought. He watched Sakura comically dodging the hearts. 'Ok. This is getting weird...'

Sakura fell on her head, a failed attempt at dodging a heart matrix-styled. She got up and began to shout at Lee. "Hey! Keep your stupid little valentines to yourself. I was dodging for my life there!"

'Again. Rejected. Sorry Lee, she just isn't in to you. Now… about our battle.' Trunks grinned as he stared at him.

Naruto however was beyond pissed off; his face reddening in anger,

'Ugh! Again! Sasuke and Trunks! Sasuke and Trunks! Sasuke! Trunks! Why is it always them?!' Naruto screamed in his head.

"You've heard of the Uchiha clan, yet you're challenging me?" Sasuke asked as if he found the bushy browed weirdo crazy. "You must be even more psycho than you look." he smirked, "If that's possible. You wanna know more about my clan? Then I'll teach you, the hard way." Sasuke threatened with a glare. Who does this guy think he is? This loser will learn what happens when you take an Uchiha lightly.

Lee didn't look the least bit fazed from the threat. In fact, it made him even more determined. He got into his strong-fist style position, which was noticed by Trunks.

'What? That's an odd stance.' The saiyan commented in his head.

'Excellent. A match against an Uchiha and a number one rookie. I will draw both of them out and get them to reveal their technique. And I will prove myself to you, Gai-Sensei' Lee planned confidently.

Just before the battle could begin, Naruto interrupted the fight, demanding he take a crack at Lee first.

"N-Naruto?!" Trunks gasped.

"I _got _this. This weirdo's mine!"

Sasuke smirked and nodded "Go for it..."

"Naruto..." Sakura growled with a warning tone in her voice, but Naruto ignored her and stepped forward.

"It'll take me two minutes to have this guy begging for mercy!" Naruto growled.

Lee looked at Naruto and said, "No thank you. The only ones I want to fight are Uchiha and Briefs."

Naruto growled at this. Getting sick of the treatment that Sasuke and Trunks have been getting lately.

He put his hands up and flashed some hand-signs. Trunks noticed immediately that those were the hand-signs for one of the blonde's favorite jutsu.

"WELL, I GOT NEWS FOR YA! SASUKE AND TRUNKS DON'T COMPARE TO ME! BELIEVE IT!"

"NARUTO! DON'T!" Trunks shouted.

"**WIND STYLE: AIR BULLETS!**" Naruto shot a flurry of Air balls at Lee who nimbly dodged them.

'An A-rank jutsu that is used by a genin. Impressive. He's a lot stronger than I imagined.' Lee thought. To the naked eye it would seem like Lee had teleported. But that wasn't the case. Sasuke and Trunks with their trained eyes noticed him appear behind Naruto. "It is over. I win." Lee declared as he ducked a blow from Naruto and used a leg sweep to knock Naruto into wall, knocking him out for a bit.

'I tried to warn him. But still, I can't believe he took out Naruto in one blow. Is he that strong?' Trunks thought.

Lee got back into his stance, looking determined as ever.

"Accept it. You have no chance against me, your skills are inferior." He turned to Sasuke. "You see Sasuke, Trunks, out of all the top lead genin. I am the best. Fight me and I will prove it to you too."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and stepped forward. "Alright then. Let's do it." Sasuke said with a determined grin on his face.

Sakura looked at the clock and noticed that they were running out of time.

"There's no time Sasuke-Kun. We've need to register by three o'clock. That's in less than twenty minutes." Sakura pleaded.

Sasuke didn't care. This guy wanted a fight and now he's going to get one. "Relax. This'll be all over in five seconds." Sasuke replied before charging towards Lee.

'Alright Sasuke. Let's see what happens' Trunks thought. He stepped back next to Sakura, observing the upcoming showdown before Sasuke and Lee.

'Here he comes.' Lee thought as he prepared himself. 'Forgive me Gai-Sensei, I know it's forbidden. But I may have to break the rules and use THAT jutsu!' Lee fazed out of the way just before Sasuke's punch could connect to his face.

'There's that speed again.' Trunks thought.

Lee appeared at Sasuke's side, attempting a round kick. "**Leaf Hurricane!**"

Sasuke ducked the kick as Lee quickly regained his footing, coming with a spin kick.

'Not moving fast enough, gotta block it.' Sasuke thought. However, while his eyes were trained on Lee, the green clad ninja made an half tiger seal; distracting Sasuke. 'What the hell?!' Sasuke shouted in his head as he was kicked in the face.

"SASUKE-KUN!" Sakura cried as the Uchiha was sent flying across the room. Sasuke grunted as he struggled to get back up.

Trunks looked at Lee with much curiosity. 'What was that hand-sign just now? What kind of jutsu was that?' Trunks wondered. The saiyan had never seen a martial arts related jutsu.

"Ugh…What's going on?!" Sasuke grunted.

'He had his guard up and Lee went right through it!' Sakura thought in awe.

Sasuke got to his feet and grunted a bit. 'He's using some technique to get to me. What is it? A ninjutsu? Genjutsu?' He wondered. Sasuke turned to Lee, more prepared now and ready for round two. 'Alright. This is good. Got him right where I want him. Now's my chance.' He smirked. "I've been waiting to try this out. I was saving this for you, Trunks." Sasuke whispered.

Trunks noticed Sasuke had his eyes closed. 'So he really does have it now, awesome!' Trunks grinned.

'Could it be?!' Sakura thought.

Sasuke opened his eyes to reveal they both had the Sharingan. 'When did he learn… his is in both of them?' Sakura thought as Sasuke charged at Lee.

'So that is the infamous Sharingan?' Lee thought.

Sakura balled her fists in anticipation, 'There's no way Sasuke-kun could lose to this weirdo!'

However all hope vanished when Lee kicked Sasuke in the chin. Trunks was surprised that not even the sharingan can keep up with his speed.

'This guy will be a handful once I fight him.' Trunks said.

'Ugh! He got around my guard! What happened?! What kind of jutsu is that?!" Sasuke wondered.

Lee looked at Sasuke, "You see, my technique isn't ninjutsu or genjutsu!" Lee said as he charged at Sasuke. Sasuke landed on his feet and the two began to fight once more. Naruto on the other hand regained his consciousness and saw what was going on.

"Oh no! Sasuke!" Naruto cried out.

'Ah! Naruto's awake. I was starting to get a bit worried.' Trunks thought as he watched Sasuke take a vicious elbow to the side of the head, 'So this guy's just using taijutsu, huh? No wonder Sasuke is having trouble. And his speed is phenomenal. He's probably fast enough to keep up with me at base, if I didn't go all out.' Trunks thought as he watched Sasuke getting the shit beat out of him. 'I guess I better step in now.'

"SASUKE! That's enough! Let me have a crack at him." Trunks called out as he rolled his shoulders.

Sasuke panted and glared at the half-saiyan.

"NO! He's all mine!" Sasuke retorted.

Trunks sighed and shook his head. "Sasuke, you need to save your strength. I know you can't go all out against him. Besides, what are you gonna do if you fight Gaara all busted up?" Trunks replied, trying to talk the Uchiha down.

Sasuke grunted before deactivating his sharingan. He walked off the battlefield, "Fine…." But as soon as he walked passed the saiyan who was walking towards Lee, "Be careful Trunks. His sp…"

"I know… he's fast as hell. Trust me, I'll be fine…." Trunks looked at the clock. 'Only 7 minutes left…'

Lee looked at Trunks and was starting to have doubts. He heard rumors around Konoha and his teachers that Trunks managed to effortlessly beat a Chunin without breaking a sweat. Not to mention, almost exterminating one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.

"This one's dangerous..." Lee mumbled to himself.

Trunks smirked and then charged at Lee in a blinding speed, surprising the green clad ninja. Trunks threw a punch which was countered by a block from Lee. Lee grabbed his arm and swung him away. Trunks quickly gained his footing, before charging in and elbowing Lee in his side.

"Guah! He…He got me." Lee coughed in surprised.

"ALRIGHT TRUNKS! TAKE THAT WEIRDO DOWN!" Naruto cheered.

"Yeah Trunks-Kun! Beat him down!" Sakura added. 'There's no way Trunks-Kun could lose to this guy! No way!'

Lee quickly recovered and sent a jump kick flying towards the demi saiyan. "Leaf Hurricane!"

'Oh no you don't!' Trunks countered the kick with his forearm, the force making the room vibrate. Trunks didn't expect a quick leg sweep right after.

"**Leaf Whirlwind!**"

Trunks grunted, cursing himself for falling for such a cheap trick. As he was about to fall on his back, Lee quickly kicked him up in the air.

Naruto shouted, "UGH! COME ON TRUNKS! QUIT FOOLING AROUND! BEAT THIS GUY ALREADY!"

'I know Naruto, I know. But this guy's even faster than Haku.' Trunks thought, 'Ugh, whatever, I guess I'll have to end this quickly before he pulls anymore tricks.' Trunks thought. He hung in the air, pointing a hand towards the bushy brow ninja.

'What is he planning...' Lee thought.

'I see… so he's now gonna use ki. Bout time..' Sasuke grinned.

"Burning Storm!" The prince shouted as he shot out a volley of blue ki blasts at the ninja.

'That's the same technique Trunks-Kun used when he fought Zabuza.' Sakura thought.

'I see… so the rumors are true. He is a ki user after all.' Lee thought as he dodged the barrage of ki blast. 'To fight a Sharingan user at this time of day and the one who beat Zabuza will prove my worth even more. Sorry Gai-Sensei, I believe it is time to use THAT jutsu!'

Just before Trunks could charge at Lee, the bushy-browed genin seemed to vanish and kick the demi saiyan in the air again.

"UGH!" Trunks grunted out as he was knocked into the air. Lee crouched on the floor and vanished once again. He appeared behind Trunks and unraveled the bandages on his arm.

Sasuke immediately noticed what was going on and grunted. "Dancing Leaf Shadow…" He whispered.

"You're finished…" Lee declared as the bandages snaked around Trunks.

The saiyan snarled, the bandages snaking around his body giving him a good idea of what Lee was planning. 'Not a chance!' he shouted in his head. His hand snatched onto the bandage, Lee's eyes widening as a result. Trunks smirked as he turned and swung Lee in like a yo-yo, bringing the bowl-cut genin's face into his fist, knocking him back.

Trunks wasn't done yet as he repeated the move, slinging Lee into his fist once more.

"There ya' go, finish him!" Sakura cheered.

The saiyan swung the dazed Genin around by his bandage and slung him into the wall.

"We done here?" the saiyan asked as he lowered himself back to the floor. Lee pulled himself out of the indent his body made in the wall.

Lee stared at the saiyan as he rubbed his sore jaw. "Without permission from Gai-sensei, I have no way of matching you in this fight, Trunks-kun." He bowed, "I reluctantly concede defeat."

Trunks smiled and approached the taijutsu specialist. He held out his hand, "Good to hear. You actually gave me more trouble than I expected."

Lee smiled and grasped Trunks hand, "I appreciate the compliment Trunks-kun." he struck a nice-guy pose, "And I appreciate you allowing me to test your strength. The next time we fight, I will be much stronger!"

Giving Lee a thumbs up in return, Trunks said, "I can't wait. See you around Rock Lee." the saiyan rejoined his teammates.

As Team 7 left, Lee glanced up to the balcony. His bug-like eyes widened as he saw his jonin, a man that looked like an older version of himself.

"Lee my boy, I'm proud of you!" Gai said as he flashed a thumb up to his protoge.

"Really?!" Lee asked in joy before his face fell, "But I lost, Gai-sensei."

The Jonin jumped the balcony before landing in front of his student, "You fought three tough opponents Lee, and rose above two. You followed my orders and you found a new stepping stone." Gai flashed a smile to his student, "That's a win in my book."

Tears filled Lee's eyes, before he embraced his sensei.

XXX

Naruto folded his arms behind his head and glared daggers at Trunks, "You could've beaten that weirdo in a heartbeat. Why'd you go easy on him?"

Trunks shrugged, "Fighting's a lot more fun when you have to try. Turning super saiyan and laying him out with a flick of my wrist is unsportsmanlike."

Sasuke grumbled, "That guy managed to take me on with taijutsu _alone_." he voiced his thoughts.

"Maybe he's just gifted at it." Sakura suggested out loud.

"Or maybe he actually _trains _instead of sitting around brooding all day." Naruto said, causing Sasuke's eyes to widen.

"Naruto!" Sakura scolded.

"Don't get mad at me," Naruto said as he held up his hands, "I'm just calling it like I see it."

The team continued on through the double doors.

Team 7 reached a hallway that led to a set of double doors. Upon entering, they saw Kakashi waiting for them, Icha Icha book in hand and leaning against the wall.

"Nice to see all four of you showed up." The Jonin said, "Good thing too, because only a three man team is required, one of you could have stayed at home."

Although Sakura was smiling on the outside, she was screaming and cursing on the inside.

Kakashi gave an eye smile, "Anyways, that doesn't matter. The four of you are here and I'm proud of that. I wish you all luck."

Sasuke folded his arms suspiciously, "If we're supposed to have a three man Team, can't we get disqualified?"

Hatake waved his hand, "Don't worry about that. The Hokage managed to pull some strings in case all four of you decided to participate." he turned to Naruto, "If anyone bothers you about it just tell'em Naruto's blind, deaf, and dumb."

"Screw you!"

XXX


	13. Chapter 13

XXX

The Genin of Team 7 had no idea what they would find on the other side of that door. What they did see, wasn't something they were thrilled about. Inside the room there was what easily amounted to a hundred shinobi at _least_. Every single one of them were glaring at Kakashi's team.

The son of Vegeta could sense several foul feeling ki's scattered throughout the room. Only confirming that these exams were going to be a pain. One particular ki was so foul, so _monstrous_ that the demi-saiyan found himself feeling… unsettled. He scanned the room with his senses, tracing the source of the energy coming from none other than Gaara. The red haired teen stood with his siblings.

What was Gaara's issue? Sure he never struck Trunks as the most mentally stable, but for his energy to come off as feeling so ghastly, especially compared to anyone else in the room, it was enough to send a chill down the saiyans spine.

Gaara's leaf green eyes slowly skimmed over to catch Trunks's ocean blue ones glaring at him. The saiyans heart began pounding, making him anxious for some reason. Gaaras eyes narrowed, making Trunks clench his fists. He felt the urge to fight, but he wasn't being attacked or even threatened in any noticeable. The only conclusion could be the amount of killer intent Gaara was letting out.

"Trunks-Kun!" A high pitched squeal broke the tension. Two arms latched themselves around Trunks neck, catching the son of Vegeta by surprise. "Where've you been Trunks I haven't seen you in forever!" Ino squealed.

Blushing furiously at the attention, and having a girl groping him, Trunks said with a forced smile, "Oh, hi Ino." while silently thinking, 'Someone help me!'

Sasuke was silently smirking, knowing that someone will finally know the torture he goes through every single day. 'Yes! Yes! Know my pain...know my suffering.'

Sakura growled with a red face, "Ino-pig, let go of Trunks. You're scaring him."

Ino smiled at Sakura, still keeping her hold on Trunks, "Oh, hey, Forehead. I'm surprised they let a loser like you in." Sakura looked as if she would spring forth and strangle Ino, but the blonde was confident that Trunks wouldn't let the pinkette near her. That only prompted Ino to smile wider and tighten her grip on the saiyans neck.

"Oh great, it's you guys." A familiar irritated voice drawled. Shikamaru and Choji approached Team Kakashi, "I knew these exams were gonna be a drag, but now I gotta put up with these scumbags?" The slacker groaned. Choji was munching on a bag of chips like usual.

Naruto scoffed, "So all three stooges are here."

Shikamaru barked, "You know what pipsqueak! Ah, forget it, you're a waste of time."

A new set of footsteps approached. "Well well, looks like the old gang's back together again." Kiba said, Shino and Hinata tagging along behind him.

"H-Hi Naruto." Hinata said with a small smile.

"Hi Hinata." Naruto said casually, making the shy girl blush furiously at knowing that she was acknowledged.

Shikamaru wasn't anymore glad to see Team 8 than he was Team 7, to say the least. "So you guys made it too." He sighed.

The Inuzuka nodded, "Yup. And from the looks of things, so did everyone else. I guess all 10 rookies are gonna be competing." though Kiba's eyes widened when he looked over team seven, "Hey wait a minute, why do you guys get a four man team?!"

"Yeah," Choji said through his smacking, "that's unfair."

Naruto waved his hand in a dismissful manner, "Blah blah, take it up with the Hokage if you got a problem!"

Kiba shrugged, "Psh whatever; four, five, six, we'll still kick your asses!" Kiba's eyes went to Sasuke. He purposely avoided Trunks, still a little sore at his embarrassing defeat at the saiyan on his first day at the Academy. "Some of you may not even make the cut."

Sasuke smirked at his once rival, "Heh, careful you don't get overconfident. That usually doesn't end well for you."

Kiba gloated, "Ha, things are gonna be way different now. We've been training like crazy."

"What do you think we've been doing, sitting on our asses? I bet you bozo's don't know what real training means!" Naruto snapped.

"Y-You shouldn't listen to Kiba Naruto-kun. I'm sure he d-didn't mean anything by it." Hinata timidly said, hoping to Kami that Naruto wouldn't get mad at her over what Kiba said.

Naruto raised an eyebrow at Hinata, wondering why she would always get so nervous whenever the Uzumaki so much as looked at her.

The Uzumaki was tempted to ask her what her deal was, but was stopped by yet another new voice.

"You guys might wanna keep it down a little. You're in a room full of nervous Genin and I'm sure a few of'em wouldn't mind thinning out the competition." The speaker was a young man with silver hair reminiscent of Kakashi's, pulled back in a tight ponytail, with round glasses sitting on his face.

Just as he said, when the rookie ten got a look at the other candidates, every single one of them were glaring at them with bloodlusted looks on their faces.

Naruto grunted before shouting out, "You idiots don't intimidate me! You watch, I'll pulverise every single one of-" A hard fist met the back of his head, making him yelp in pain.

"Naruto you jackass, what are you trying to get us killed!?" Sakura yelled as she began manhandling him.

Trunks managed to shrug Ino off of him before turning to the new arrival, "Who are you anyways? If you don't mind me asking."

"My name's Kabuto Yakushi. But I wouldn't be so worried about me as I would be about the other genin in this room." Kabuto said, "Those guys are from the hidden rain and they're known to have short tempers. If anything, I'd watch my back around them especially."

Although Trunks nodded, he didn't take Kabuto's words to heart. In fact, something about the teenager felt off. He was _way _too strong to be considered a genin. He couldn't even be a Chunin. His power was at least at the level of Kakashi's, who was stronger than the average Jonin.

"So, Kabuto was it. You seem to know a lot about these exams. Is this your second time taking them?" Sakura asked.

Kabuto scratched his head bashfully, "Well actually, no. This is my seventh. The exams are held twice a year and this is my fourth year."

"Wow you must suck." Shikamaru said. Although nobody else would admit it, they thought failing something six times was pretty pathetic.

Kabuto let out a nervous laugh before pulling a deck of cards from a pouch, "You could say that, but it's not like I've been wasting my time these last few years." He held out the cards so that the rookie 10 could get a good look at them.

"What the heck are those?" Ino asked.

"These are my ninja-info cards. They've been chakra encoded to hold all of the information I've picked up over the years." Kabuto kneeled down and sat his stack of cards on the floor. With a smirk, Kabuto took a card and laid it flat on the floor and lightly spun it, "I have information on just about every genin in this room."

This caught Sasuke's attention, "Oh yeah? Prove it." He kneeled down to get a better look, everyone else gathering around to see for themselves.

Kabuto flipped the card over, showing a blank panel. "It may not look like much at first, but that's because I don't want just anyone looking at this stuff." He looked at Sasuke, before the card poofed in white smoke and revealed a picture of the Uchiha along with a listings of all of his stats, including his Jonin, teammates, and special information.

"That's neat." Trunks admitted. The expressions on the others faces showed similar thoughts.

Sasuke nodded towards Trunks, a sign that Kabuto should look him up, "It says here that he's a member of Team 7. He's done 19 D-ranks, and 1 A-rank."

"When did you guys do an A-rank?!" Ino asked Sakura.

"Long story." The pinkette said.

Kabuto continued, "His ninjutsu and genjutsu are nonexistent, while his taijutsu is above average. It says here that he uses… ki?" His eyes widened in disbelief. The rookie nine already being used to that fact, were kind of indifferent. "Let's see what else, oh, it say's that he arrived in the village under mysterious circumstances, and that he's the son of a genius. He has a kekkei-genkai. His sensei is- huh?" The box where it was supposed to label who the sensei's were had a blacked out human shape with a question mark in the middle. Which was strange considering the card said his team Jonin was Kakashi. "His sensei is unknown for some reason."

Naruto turned to Trunks, "Didn't you say your sensei's name was Gohan or something?" He asked.

"Yeah, but it's not like most people here would know that." Trunks said.

Kabuto slipped the card back into the deck, "Anyone else?"

Actually, there was, "Gaara." Sasuke said with a low voice.

Kabuto pulled out one more card, "I take it you mean Sabaku no Gaara?" He activated the card, "Only thing I've got on him is that he's the son of the Kazekage… and, get this, he's never gotten a single scratch on a mission."

Shocked gasps escaped the mouths of every member of the rookie ten.

'No way, I couldn't even pull that off!' Trunks thought in amazement.

"Seriously, there's no way! Unless, they were doing D-Ranks the entire time." Kiba said.

Sasuke's fists clenched, 'He's _definitely _someone we need to watch out for.'

The class's attention was brought to the front of the room by the sound of an explosion. When the white smoke settled they were greeted to the sight of a tall and tanned skinned man who had his headband tied like a bandanna and a vicious scar running down his left eye, in a manner similar to Kakashi's. The man was backed by a band of Chunin.

"Alright runts, shut up and listen! I'm Morino Ibiki and I'm gonna be the proctor of the first exam. Gotta problem with that? Didn't think so." The classes silence made the man smirk, "Now come up, take a number, and wait for further instructions."

XXX

After everyone took their number they were assigned to certain seating arrangements accordingly. Trunks found himself sitting next to an extremely creepy man… or was it a woman? If it were a man it was an extremely feminine one with a wide grass hat and an ornate attire. Trunks didn't know why, but the look in the man's eye was so… snakelike.

"Hello there." The man's voice was silky and came off as a purr.

"Hi." Trunks said simply, trying to be as polite as possible and not show that he was creeped the hell out.

"You seem rather strong. Why is that?" The man's eyes were roaming up and down Trunks arms, making the teen break out in a sweat.

"Uh, I do lot's of push ups and sit ups, and I drink lots of juice." Trunks said, hoping to shut the man up.

A glint in the man's eye showed a sort of excitement, making the saiyan seriously question the man's sexuality. Not that the demi-saiyan had a problem with gay people, he just didn't wanna get someone else's hopes up.

"Would you have happened to have a master help you get stronger?" The feminine man asked.

Trunks turned to him, "Yeah… I did."

Luckily for Trunks, the tests had finished being passed out so the other man couldn't continue. Little did Trunks know, he was sitting next to one of, if not _the_ worst villain in the Leaf Village's history.

"You get one hour, begin!" Ibiki ordered, making the room fill with the sounds of shifting papers and the tapping of pencils.

After looking over the first few questions, the Demi-saiyan could tell this test was going to be a cakewalk. It was all just basic physics and algebraic word problems. His mom may not have had him study every day of his life like Gohan had to as a kid, but a lot of his time that wasn't spent training with Gohan, was spent with Bulma teaching him the basics of engineering (A/N:For those of you that know nothing about engineering, it's basically applied physics). Most people would think that was boring, but when living in the apocalypse, anything could qualify as entertainment.

Sakura was faring well herself, being one of the smartest members of her team.

XXX

Naruto, on the other hand, was losing his mind. This was a test! And not just any test, it was a _written _test, meaning he was absolutely screwed. And not only was he screwed, but Sasuke, Sakura, and Trunks were screwed with him. The frustration was tempting the blonde to rip his hair out.

'Screw it, it's cheating time!' Naruto declared in his head.

"Number 48, you're out! Take your team with you!" The proctor's loud voice startling everyone in the room.

Naruto grimaced, 'Well, maybe cheating's not such a good idea.'

"Psst, Naruto-kun." Naruto saw Hinata out of the corner of his eye. The Hyuuga's test was slid under her elbow towards Naruto, "You can copy mine if you'd like, I already finished." Hinata whispered.

The blonde strongly considered it, but stopped himself, "I can't Hinata. If I do that you'll get disqualified too. I won't let that happen."

'He… he cares!' Hinata's face went red at Naruto's honorable action.

XXX

Sasuke wasn't doing any better than Naruto was, and it was stressing him the hell out. These were Chunin level questions for crying out loud. It's not like they had any way to study for these beforehand, so there wasn't a way for 95% of the examinees here to pass, unless they were meant to… cheat! The two point deduction, everyone sitting so closely together, the fact that the proctors made such a big fuss about cheating than actually getting the questions correct really drove this point home. Sasuke smirked before activating his Sharingan.

This was going to be a piece of cake.

He chose someone who was writing away at their test like it was a breeze. Soon the Uchiha's hand was copying the guys exact hand and arm movements.

Ibiki smirked from the front of the room, noticing Sasuke's sharingan, Neji's Byakugan, and other signs of the students cheating. Even though he knew who all was cheating, it wasn't like he was going to bust them. That wasn't his job. He was a supervisor, not a proctor like he led those kids to believe. Eventually, most students in the class figured out the main objective of the test, and soon everyone was cheating their asses off. The only student's really taking the test seriously were Naruto, Trunks, and Sakura. Trunks and Sakura because they were smart enough to answer most of the questions, and Naruto because of his ignorance of how to figure out otherwise.

The demi-saiyan was sitting boredly at his seat in the classroom, lightly tapping his pencil on his desk as a way to create ambient noise. Trunks had finished his test some time ago so it wasn't like there was anything else to do. His eyes traveled around the room, finding Sakura, then Sasuke, then Naruto. He figured it would be a good idea to see how the others were handling the exams. He looked towards Sakura and concentrated.

*_Hey Sakura.*_

The pinkette gasped at the sound of Trunks's voice. It sounded like he was speaking right next to her, but she knew he was across the room.

*_I know what you're thinking, but don't freak out. I'm just using a telepathic link. To speak back, just use your inside voice.* _The demi-saiyan said.

The look in Sakura's eye showed that she was in awe, *_Trunks? This is so cool! Why didn't you tell us you could do this?* _Sakura said in her head.

Trunks smirked, *_You never asked. But did you need any help with your test?* _The prince asked.

*_No, but you should see about Sasuke and Naruto. Especially Naruto.*_

Trunks spread his link over to Sasuke, *_Hey Sasuke, it's me Trunks.* _The saiyan noticed the Uchiha flinch in his seat, *_Don't worry I'm just talking telepathically. I have Sakura on the line too.*_

_*Hi Sasuke!*_

_*You okay with your test?* _Trunks asked. _*Speak with your thoughts.*_

_*Y-yeah, I am. How are we doing this?* _The Uchiha asked hesitantly.

*_It's just a ki technique. Don't worry about it._* Trunks began spreading his senses out toward Naruto. Only, he found that he couldn't. *_Damn, I tried to add Naruto in but I can't. He's too far away.*_

Sasuke cursed, *_Shit! I hope that dobe doesn't screw this up for us.*_

_*Naruto will be fine. I believe in him.* _Trunks said.

After the Genin's remaining time went by Ibiki grinned. This was his favorite part. It was time to weed out the weaklings. "Alright brats, listen up!" Ibiki drawled, catching every genin's attention. "It's time for all of you to answer the 10th question, but this one's a little different from the first nine. If you answer wrong, that's it, you're done, and what's worse, you will be stuck as a genin... forever."

One could hear a pin drop in the classroom. The scarred man silently cuckled, taking pleasure in watching the Genin squirm.

"What do you mean _we'll _be stuck as a genin! There are several people here who've taken the exams more than once!" A random genin exclaimed.

A low chuckle escaped Ibiki's mouth, something everyone could hear, "I guess it's just your bad luck that you got me as a proctor." He grinned. "Anyone wanna drop now and not risk a permanent demotion?" A few hands went up. That seemed to be all, then another few rose, then some more. At the drop of a hat, over thirty Genin had been dismissed.

Five minutes of silence passed, which wound up with another five hands rising. Which resulted in 15 genin being dismissed. Another five minutes passed and no one moved a muscle.

"Whew, I wonder what it would be like to be stuck as a genin. No respect, all that crappy pay and missions." Another six teams dropped.

Sakura was conflicted. She didn't want to risk getting the question wrong herself, and be forever below her team, but she didn't want to quit and be labeled a coward by Sasuke either. Then her thoughts went to Naruto. There wasn't a chance in hell that he'd answer this question right, and if he was permanently demoted, it would keep him from his dream. And if he was kept from his dream, that would destroy him. The pinkette couldn't let the blonde shatter his own dream just because he was too stubborn to call a quit and try again.

*_You guys._* Sakura said through the telepathic link. *_I can't let Naruto get held back.*_

_*What are you doing?* _Sasuke asked. His question was answered as Sakura's shaky hand began to lift in the air. *_Sakura, don't you dare.* _Sasuke warned.

*...* Trunks didn't know what to make of this. Being a Chunin didn't matter much to him, but he didn't know if it was such a good idea for Sakura to get them all booted.

Naruto's hand beat Sakura's into the air, sending a jolting shock through Team 7 and Hinata.

'No.' Hinata thought with sad eyes.

The Uzumaki held it high up in the air before slamming it down on the desk, the 'whack' catching the attention of everyone in the classroom.

"Screw you and your question!" Naruto shouted, "I don't care if I'm a genin forever, I'll become Hokage through sheer will if I have to! I'm not afraid!"

Ibiki blinked in shock at the hyperactive blondes determination. The scarred man took a look at everyone else in the class. "Oh really?" He grinned, "Well this is your last chance to quit. Does anyone wanna drop out now and not risk a permanent demotion?" The looks on the rest of the Genin's faces showed that Naruto's speech was inspirational enough to get them to stay, "Well then, if none of you are going to leave…" the tension skyrocketed as Ibiki paused as if getting ready for the question. He grinned heartedly, "Congratulations. You've passed the First Exam."

Silence filled the room, every Genin's eyes widening in surprise.

"Wh-What do you mean? What about the tenth question?" Sakura asked.

Ibiki chuckled, "There never was one. The 'tenth question' was just a test of your determination. We needed to know how willing you were to stay."

"Wait a minute, so what was the point of the other nine?! Were they just a waste of time?" Temari rudely asked.

"Not at all, the first nine were meant to see just how well you could gather information. As I explained before this test is based on all the success of all of your teammates. This puts pressure on each team member to want to do their best." Ibiki smirked, "I'm sure you realized by now the questions on this test were more than most Genin could answer, and most of you realized you needed to cheat. There were chunin in the crowd for that specific purpose. Of course, those that cheated poorly failed. This is because on the battlefield, information can mean life and death."

"But I still don't understand the tenth question." Temari stated.

"It was a way to test whether or not you are willing to risk everything. To see if you are you willing to risk yourself and your teammates in order to carry out the mission. Congratulations on passing the first test, I wish you all the best of-"

Ibiki was interrupted by a mass of black crashing through the window and into the front of the classroom. The shadow expanded, setting all of the present shinobi on edge. A banner opened, getting pinned to the ceiling with kunai; the banner read 'Second Exam proctor Mitarashi Anko, sit down, shut up and pay attention.' In front of the banner stood a provocatively dressed woman wearing a fishnet body suit with a brown trench coat layered on top. Anko's hair was tied back in a loose ponytail.

The second they got an eyeful of her, the Rookie Ten had one collective thought. 'She's like Naruto.'

Anko got a good look at the amount of Genin still in the classroom and pouted, "What the hell Ibiki, there's like 80 Genin here. You get soft or something?"

Ibiki shook his head, "No, there's just a stronger batch of candidates this year."

"Pfft, doesn't look like it," Anko grinned, "But it's not like it matters anyways cause by the time I'm done with them, more than _half _will be eliminated."

A sense of dread blanketed the remaining Genin, 'H...Half?'

"Alright, listen up you maggots," she barked, just as rude and abrasive as Ibiki. "Follow me to the training ground for your next exam!" She walked out of the class with the genin in tow, the youngsters having no idea of the hell they would soon be facing.

When the class was finally cleared and empty, Ibiki went around to each student's desk to collect their test. When he got to Naruto's, he looked at it and smiled.

"I just passed a genin that didn't answer a single question…" he chuckled. "That Naruto Uzumaki's a funny one alright."

XXX


	14. Chapter 14

The Genin found themselves standing before a fenced off training ground. Tall and scraggly trees occupied the inside of the closed off area, making it nigh impossible for the Genin to see what was inside of the dark and shadowed forest floor. The sound of hissing made them not too thrilled to find out.

Anko grinned at the Genin out in front of her, relishing in their paling faces, "Welcome to the next phase of your exam. The Forest of Death. You guys better get yourselves comfortable because it's gonna be your home for the next five days."

"Five days?!" Ino exclaimed.

"What are we supposed to do for food?!" Choji cried.

"It's a forest, nimrod. There'll be plenty of animals to hunt and berries to pick. You'll be just fine… maybe." Anko said with a slight chuckle in the end.

Trunks took a glance at the forest before shrugging, "Big deal, my master had me survive alone in a forest for three months." That came off as a bit of a shocker to those that were in hearing range.

'Three months? Why?' Sakura wondered. The others thoughts weren't too far off.

Anko grinned before flinging a kunai at the saiyan. Trunks caught the knife by it's hilt.

"You shouldn't throw sharp things at people, you could really put an eye out." Trunks said smugly before tossing the knife back to her.

Anko leered at him before continuing, "Anyways, you all need to sign these waivers." She pulled out a stack of papers from the inside of her jacket and roughly shoved them into a random genin, who took one and passed the stack.

"What for?" Naruto asked.

Anko smiled, "So I don't get held accountable if you happen to die in the exams." Most of the genin's faces turned white. Gaara raised an invisible eyebrow, liking where this was going. "This portion of the exam is meant to be the ultimate survival test, and an evaluation of just how well you can transport captured intelligence back to friendly territory." She held up two scrolls, one with the kanji for heaven, and the other for earth. "One of these scrolls will be your teams cargo. And it'll be your teams job to get the opposite scroll from an opposing team and make it to the tower in the center of the forest."

"What are the rules?" Gaara asked.

Anko grinned, "There are none. Anything goes to get those scrolls, and since you've all signed the waiver, no deaths will be investigated only bodies will be recovered. " A grin crossed Gaara's lips, making Temari and Kankuro gulp.

This was gonna be a bloodbath.

"Actually," Anko started as she put the scrolls in her coat, "there are three ways your team can get disqualified; one, if you can't get a scroll or make it to the tower within those five days, two, if a teammate gets incapacitated or dies, three, if any of you for any reason look at the content of the scrolls before you reach the tower." Anko explained.

"What if the scroll falls open and we just happen to read it?" Naruto asked.

"Lemme put it to you this way, _you don't want to know."_ Anko said with an innocent smile, "This test is also meant as a means to test your integrity. So try not to let us down, okay shortie?" Naruto frowned and grunted at being labeled as 'shortie'. "Alright, we all clear? Good. Now everyone turn in your consent forms, get a scroll, and pick a gate. We'll begin in 30 minutes."

XXX

As the Genin turned in their waivers, Sasuke sat away on his own behind a large boulder, drowning in his thoughts.

'I see how it is now. Regardless of whatever scroll we get, no other team is gonna know what we have, and vice-versa. Meaning that potentially everyone here is my enemy. Not like it matters though. We're the only four man squad; with Naruto and Trunks being the juggernauts, me being the tactician and close-quarter combat specialist, and Sakura being the brains of the group. We have such a huge advantage I would say it's almost cheating.' A small smirk began to make its way across Sasuke's face. 'Too bad for them.'

Like Sasuke, Trunks already turned in his form and took his seat away from anyone else. It wasn't intentional, but Sakura and Ino got into an argument which kind of drove the saiyan to avoid them as well, not wanting to be involved if things got physical. Also like Sasuke, Trunks had his own thoughts about the test,

'So, no restrictions, huh. I guess this means that the mass majority of the people here will be trying to kill us. I won't like it, but if anyone tries to kill me or any of my friends I'll neutralize them like I would anyone else.' The demi-saiyan would never _enjoy _killing someone, but he wouldn't dare hesitate to take a life. Where he came from that could mean a death sentence.

'For their sake, they better hope they don't run into me during these exams.'

XXX

After every Genin team retrieved their scroll, it grew time to begin the test. Each team of Genin stood before their own gate, listening as Anko's voice came through the radio speakers, "Alright maggots, the gates will open and the exam will begin on my countdown."

Team 7 eagerly waited for the Jonins call.

"Five… four…" The chain's dropped on every gate, "three… two…" the gates opened wide, "ONE!"

Team 7 shot into the dark forest canopy.

The Kusagakure nin's team bounded through the trees, although their objectives weren't the scrolls, but a certain team with an Uchiha that was in possession of a Kekkei Genkai.

"Split up," Orochimaru hissed to his teammates. "We need to find the Uchiha and mark him before the second exam is finished."

Team Gai was flashing through the trees as well. Lee, being eager to meet his combatants, stayed ahead of his team

"Take it easy Lee, the test has only just begun." Neji called out to his teammate.

"That may be, but whoever our opponents are, I want to find them before they find us!" The thought of a certain swordsman, Uchiha, and Uzumaki came to Lee's mind.

'Hm, you hot-blooded fool.' Neji thought.

XXX

About a mile or so away, Team 7 came to a stop on the forest floor.

"Here is good enough." Sasuke said. "I think it's time we came up with a plan on how we're gonna get that scroll."

"Why don't I just sense out a team, beat'em down and take their scroll?" Trunks asked. That seemed to make enough sense to Sakura and Naruto.

Sasuke shook his head, "We need to stick together. We're tough, all of us, but I don't wanna risk you being gone and the three of us getting in danger, or vice-versa."

"Fair enough." Trunks said, "So, what's the plan?"

"I think we should-"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Naruto said as he walked up to a nearby tree.

"Uh, Naruto, what are you doing?" Sakura asked, cringing at the sound of a zipper being undone.

"I gotta pee." Naruto said plainly before a fist smashed into the back of his head.

"Not in front of me you don't! Go find a bush or something!" Sakura fumed.

With teary eyes Naruto massaged his head and proceeded into the foliage.

The members of Team Seven waited almost impatiently for the Uzumaki to return. The sound of rustling and scruffling was heard before the blonde came out, sporting his grin. "Whew, man I had to go! I managed to write my whole name!"

"Ugh, you are such a pig Naruto!" Sakura berated. Trunks passed a nervous glance to Sasuke, the Uchiha nodding to confirm his worry.

This wasn't Naruto.

Sasuke flashed in front of the imposter before striking him with a hard right hook, sending the phony into the trunk of a tree. The genin wasn't given a break because as soon as his back met the wet bark of the tree, Trunks smashed his knee into his stomach, cracking the bark and making the imposter genin spit up a mouthful of blood before he slumped into the ground.

Sakura watched the event unfold with a disturbing gaze, "S-Sasuke, Trunks, i-it wasn't that big of a deal, was it?"

"This isn't Naruto." The Uchiha said plainly, making Sakura gasp.

"He's right." Trunks confirmed, "His Ki is different, that tells me everything." The saiyan proceeded to roughly grab the imposter by the back of his head and slam him into the ground onto his back, disrupting the transformation jutsu. What replaced Naruto was a shinobi in a creme colored wetsuit, shadowed eyes that were open in fear, and a breather attached to his face. Trunks planted a knee on the nins chest, keeping the genin flat on his back and unable to move.

The edge of a sword pressed hard against his throat only ensured the enemy genin wouldn't move, unless he'd like his throat opened.

"You've got _five _seconds to tell me what you did with my friend." Trunks growled.

"..." The shinobi's eyes were wide in fear and he found himself speechless.

Seeing as he wasn't going to talk, Trunks thought, 'Screw it.' Before he ran his blade across the enemy's throat, making blood splash and flow from the wound.

Sasuke cringed while Sakura yelped and shut her eyes before turned the opposite way, not wanting to see the horror of someone dying right in front of her. The pinkette covered her ears so not to hear the gagging sound of the choking shinobi behind her.

Trunks got up and put his sword in the sheath, ignoring the now dead genin's corpse as he walked over him.

"H-Hey, a little help over here!" The sound of Naruto's voice made Sakura and Sasuke gasp before they rushed into the foliage, Trunks following behind them. They were greeted with Naruto trussed up and bound to the ground in ropes, squirming to try and loosen the knots.

Sasuke sighed before throwing a kunai at the edge of the ropes that cut them, allowing the blonde to get free.

"Thanks!" The Uzumaki said happily before hopping to his feet and dusting himself off. "That bastard got me right when I was almost done, so I got a little bit of-"

"We don't need to know that baka!" Sakura interrupted.

Naruto grinned at his crush before turning to Sasuke and Trunks, "So what did you guys do with the guy who attacked me anyways?"

Sasuke and Trunks turned so Naruto could look past them and see the Genin's corpse. Naruto shuddered, "That was taking it a little too far, don't you think?" The blonde asked.

Trunks shrugged it off, "I gave him the chance to talk and he didn't go for it. Besides, that guy would have tried to kill us if he was given the chance."

"Yeah, but-"

"He's right, Naruto. This is an everything goes exam, and everyone's trying to pass. You can't be so soft out here." Sasuke said.

Naruto wanted to have a response, but he didn't have anything to say to that. He settled on nodding his head.

XXX

The group sat around in a circle, deciding it was best to come up with a password in case someone got separated and needed to prove themself friendly.

"When does a ninja strike?" The Uchiha asked the group rhetorically, "A ninja waits until the time is right. When the enemy sleeps and drops his guard, when his weapons lie forgotten in the stillness of the night. That is the moment for a ninja to strike. Got it?"

"Got it!" Sakura said. Trunks nodded his response. Naruto gave the Uchiha a displeased look.

"Can't we have something a little shorter?"

Sasuke shook his head, "No, Naruto, that's it."

"Ugh, you're such a blockhead Naruto. Me and Trunks memorized it easily, why can't you?" Sakura scolded.

"I got it, I got it, I just thought it would be a pass_word, _not a pass_peech."_

As the four stood up, a dreadful feeling began to build up in Trunk's stomach, almost like something bad was going to happen.

They heard something shoot by them and into the darkness behind them. Before they could react a gust a wind funneled through the canopy, sweeping Trunks and Naruto off their feet and away into the forest. Sakura and Sasuke were lucky enough to dodge, mostly due to Sasuke noticing the tensing in Trunks muscles he managed to grab Sakura in time.

About a mile away, the Kusagakure nin stood with his/her teammates, "Fan out into the woods and keep your eyes open. I'll handle this alone."

Sasuke hid under a bush, kunai in hand to attack anyone who may walk by. Sakura was by him too, keeping a close eye out as well. A light gasp escaped her lips at the sound of footsteps against gravel drawing close.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura was hoping Sasuke had a plan for… whoever it was drawing near them. The Uchiha just pressed a finger up to his lips in a silent, 'shhh'. As the footsteps stopped, the Uchiha relaxed before turning back to look from his spot under the bush.

Sasuke's heart nearly stopped as a pair of feet wound up facing right in front of him.

Trunks lied in a daze on the forest floor. The demi-saiyan was thrown about a mile or so away from where his teams last position was. Trunks cursed himself. He _knew _something bad was going to happen, but he didn't trust his instincts. Had that attack been lethal enough to harm him, Trunks may've died.

Trunks sat up before rubbing his head. He was going to have to find the rest of his team and Naruto. The saiyan searched for Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke's energy. He found Naruto's to be close by while Sasuke and Sakura's were further away.

Wait, something was wrong.

Sasuke's energy was spiking and flickering erratically, meaning he had to be in combat.

Trunks debated with himself; should he help Naruto and then Sasuke? Or should he go straight for Sasuke and hope Naruto was fine?

He decided that Sasuke was always able to hold his own so it would be best to help Naruto first. As he prepared to move, he heard a loud bone chilling hiss boom from behind him. The saiyan slowly turned to see what was quite possibly the largest snake he'd ever seen in his life bearing down on him.

"Oh, great…"

XXX

Sasuke and Sakura were frozen in fear. The Kusa nin out in front of them had cast a genjutsu that made them simulate their own deaths. As the nin pulled out two kunai, preparing to make their fantasy a reality, Sasuke began to struggle.

The Uchiha's hand inched closer to his weapon holster, albeit against his body's wishes. "Come on… come on…" He ordered himself.

The Kusa nin snickered as she prepared to throw the kunai, "Such a shame, I was expecting you to be a little stronger than this." Time seemed to slow down for the sharingan wielding Uchiha. He managed to get his own kunai out of it's holster as the two other kunai slowly raced for him and Sakura. Sasuke let out a cry as he forced his kunai into his right thigh, the pain being enough to break the illusion.

He managed to grab Sakura just as the other kunai shot past where they once stood, sticking into a log that was a fair distance away. Sasuke picked up Sakura bridal style and leaped into the trees in a hasty retreat from the enemy.

The Kusa nin raised an impressed eyebrow at the Uchiha's method of breaking her genjutsu. She chuckled before pursuing him.

XXX

"Trunks! Sasuke! Sakura! Get me outta here!" Naruto cried. The Uzumaki was nothing but a bulge from outside a snakes belly. From inside, the blonde was mashed and compacted between the snakes guts and muscles. Even though he was tempted to keep screaming, he knew that was a bad idea as he would run out of oxygen in the confined and dark space he was in.

'Damn! Seriously, I'm in a forest full of people trying to kill me, and I have to go out being snake chow?' Naruto thought angrily. And what a way to die this would be, digested alive in a place where there was absolutely no light, and where he was limited on air. No, he had to keep fighting. He dug into his holster and pulled out a kunai, digging the blade into the snake's stomach. Unfortunately it was so wet and slippery that the knife slide from his grip. There wasn't a way he would be able to find it in the pitch black environment.

"Fine!" Naruto said to the snake. "Since you don't wanna let me out, you asked for this." He made a hand sign.

Trunks had just managed to trace Naruto's energy to the snake that was lying comfortably on the forest floor. The saiyan was hovering in the air above it, staring in horror at the bulge that he knew was Naruto.

"Naruto, don't worry. I'm gonna cut you outta there!" Trunks said as he pulled out his sword. But, before he could make any sudden movements, he noticed the snake was moving strangely. The bulge that was Naruto began to increase in size, swelling up to where it was several times larger than it was before. Then the snakes entire body began to swell up like a water balloon.

A muffled cry reached Trunks ears.

"**Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!**"

The snake exploded in a wave of blood and guts that nearly covered Trunks. Luckily the half-saiyan managed to get behind a tree to avoid getting splashed. When the swordsman peeked from behind his cover, he noticed hundreds of Naruto's filling the area the snake once rested.

"Whoa, Naruto!" Trunks exclaimed with a laugh at seeing his slime covered friend. He floated down in front of him just as the clones dispersed. "I guess he got a little more than he bargained for, didn't he?"

"Yeah, that bastard picked the wrong one." Naruto said as he sniffed his hand, his face twisting in revolt.

Trunks covered his nose too, "Ew, you do kind of stink."

Naruto shrugged it off, "Yeah, but I'd rather smell like snake guts now then snake shit in a few weeks." Trunks couldn't argue with that, "But what about you? You didn't get eaten?" Naruto asked.

"One tried, but let's just say it didn't like spicy food."

Naruto shuddered before laughing, "To be honest, I kinda wanna see it."

"Heh, maybe later. But now we gotta help Sasuke."

"Got it!" Trunks and Naruto blurred away.

XXX

Sasuke just threw a flurry of shuriken that sliced through the snake that just lunged for him. The snakes corpse fell onto a tree branch and lied still, blood running from it's mouth and open wounds.

The Uchiha stood against the bark of a tree, trying to catch his breath. He and Sakura were easily a hundred or so feet above the forest floor, ascending to that height from Sasuke's attempt to flee from the snake behemoths reach. Luckily for Sakura, the Kusa nin was only pursuing Sasuke so she was able to stay safe.

On a small area of the serpents body, the scales on the snakes corpse began to push up and crack apart, an obvious sign that something was coming out of it. Sasuke's eyes widened in fear at the Kusa nin that burst out of the snakes body, smiling up at him.

"Wh-What the hell are you?" Sasuke mumbled. His fear rose as the Grass ninja gave him a snake like smile and licked her lips. The entire fight Sasuke failed to so much as harm her, while she toyed with him as if he was a defenseless child. Now the Uchiha was almost out of chakra. And the grass nin knew that.

Like a snake her body stretched and coiled around a tree branch, intending to close the distance between Sasuke and finish him off.

"D-Damn it!" Sasuke ground out in fear and anger.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried, hoping to get her crush to at least move.

Just as the Kusa nin was about to reach Sasuke's position, a blur slammed into her, knocking her from the tree branch and sending her down to the forest floor.

Sasuke's eyes widened in wonder. He looked up to see it was Naruto who struck the Kusa nin, having caught her completely off guard. The blonde looked to his shell shocked friend. "What do you know, looks like me and Trunks showed up just in time."

The Uchiha noticed Trunks float down next to the Uzumaki on his team. Sasuke smirked. 'Leave it to Naruto to show up right in the nick of time.'

"Kukuku, well, well. To think that a mere genin has managed to catch me off guard." Team 7 looked down to see the Grass shinobi was on her feet, having shrugged off a fall of about 100 feet. The smile on her face showed that she was more amused by that fact than anything.

Trunks's eyes narrowed, "Wait a minute, I know her." He mumbled as he got a good look at the Kusa shinobi.

Both Naruto and Sasuke managed to hear him. "Wait, what!? How the hell could you know that thing?" Naruto asked in disbelief. He called her a 'thing', simply because he refused to refer to her as a female.

"I sat next to her during the written test. I don't know her name or anything, but she gave me bad vibes." Trunks admitted.

Apparently, even from 100 feet down on the forest floor the grass nin was able to hear them, "Ah yes, I remember you as well. It would also appear that both of you managed to survive my little friends."

The realization dawned on Trunks and Naruto that those weren't just _any _snakes that attacked them. They were _her _snakes that she sent after them.

Trunks flashed his aura, showing that he was powering up to the max that his base form could handle. This caused a glint of curiosity to form on the Kusa nins face.

Naruto prepared to form his kage bunshins, but Trunks stopped him. "Naruto, you're gonna have to stay out of this."

"Why would I do that? You really wanna take that creep on by yourself?" Naruto asked.

Trunks turned to Naruto so the blond would know he was being serious, "Naruto, trust me, that shinobi down there… is no genin."

"What?"

"Her power level is even greater than Kakashi's. She'd wreck you, and I'm not saying that to be an ass." Trunks said which made Naruto's eyes widen in disbelief.

"He's telling the truth Naruto." Sasuke said bitterly. "When I fought her she toyed around with me as if I was a defenseless child. You wouldn't stand a chance."

Despite having his pride damaged at being told he wouldn't be of use in a fight, Naruto backed down. "Fine, but Trunks, if I see you need help, then I'm jumping in whether you like it or not."

The tone in the Uzumaki's voice told the saiyan that his words were absolute. That's what he always liked about Naruto, when it came to helping his friends, there was nothing that could hold him back. "Deal." Trunks said.

The saiyan then set his sights on the Kusa nin on the forest floor, before charging down at her in a blue flame.


	15. Chapter 15

The demi-saiyan charged down at the Kusa-nin in a raging blue flame. The speed at which he flew broke the sound barrier, causing a crack of thunder to erupt behind him. As he closed the distance, he threw a right hook that she put her arms up to block. A surprised look appeared on her face, the woman underestimating the force behind the punch as she was blasted off her feet and thrown through six trees.

The giants collapsed to the ground, the crashing being loud enough for most of Konoha to hear.

"Whoa…" Naruto said in amazement. The expressions on Sasuke and Sakura's faces showed similar emotions. Never before had they seen Trunks just slug someone with all his might; and from the looks of things, the results were brutal.

Trunks stood panting on the ground, fist still extended. The fiery blue aura of Ki still wrapped around his body, showing that he wasn't even close to giving it his all.

The demi-saiyan could still sense her ki, "Come on out, I know that didn't kill you."

There was a moment of silence, before a heavy chuckle echoed through the air, seemingly having no origin. The laughter seemed to be coming from all around Team Seven, with Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura being able to hear it as clearly as if the person laughing was sitting right next to them. Trunks glanced all around him, before he turned to the sound of leaves crackling,

"Kukuku, 'I do lots of push ups and sit-ups and drink lots of juice'." The grass kunoichi mocked the saiyan as she made her presence known. She walked casually over the bed of fallen trees, simply stepping onto every trunk. Most of her face was shadowed from the limited amount of sunlight that shined into the forest, the few rays of light that caught the Kusa-nins face allowed Trunks a view of her left eye, that of which was a different color than that of when Trunks first saw it.

The grass-nins eye was golden with a slit in the center, only giving her even more of a snake-like countenance. "Now, I believe I've been deceived. There's more to your strength than just that." Trunks's eyes widened as the Kusa-nin came close enough to where he could see her face clearly. What he saw... was rather disturbing.

The grass-nins face was wrinkled and creased up, reminiscent of a crumpled piece of paper. The flesh around her left eye was peeled away, revealing a patch of gray skin underneath. The eye itself had a tracing of a purple marking around it, most of it being covered by the false layer of flesh.

"What the hell are you?" Trunks asked as he took a fighting stance.

The grass nins mouth didn't move as she laughed, or was it _he _laughed, because that voice was too deep to be considered feminine. What she did next was place her fingers at the edge of her jawline, and _peel _her own face right off, revealing a man with golden eyes, long purple markings around his eyes that descended down the sides of his nose, sickly pale skin, and long black hair. He let the skin that served as a mask flutter from his hand as if it were a sheet of paper.

The man swiped a hand over his forehead protector, the grass symbol changing to that of a musical note.

"Now that you've seen my true face, I suppose I should tell you that my name… is Orochimaru." The man's voice was strangely soothing, almost velvety. "Now I think I caught that your name was… Trunks?"

He didn't know why, but the saiyan found himself giving a slight nod. Trunks could sense the power difference between them, and he was intimidated. Very intimidated. This man's level of power made both Kakashi and Zabuza's look like a joke, and as far as pure energy went, Trunks at his base was only about equal to both of them. He wouldn't dare try to transform now, the time it would take would only leave him vulnerable for whatever attack Orochimaru wanted to dish out.

"Hm." The sannin grinned and tilted his head. In the instance it took Trunks to blink, the man was already finished with a set of hand-seals,

"**Wind-Style: Devastation!"**

A great wind shot through the forest canopy and hit the saiyan with the force of a speeding train. Caught in the gust, Trunks couldn't move his body, allowing Orochimaru the opportunity to charge in with another set another set of hand seals, "**Earth Release!" **The soil from the ground clumped together around the snake sannins right arm, giving him a gauntlet that, although made of earth, was as hard as any steel. Orochimaru slammed his hand into the demi-saiyan's face, forcing his head into the ground.

"Trunks!" Naruto and Sakura shouted. Naruto prepared to hop down and get involved but Sasuke snatched him by the back of his collar.

"What the hell are you doing Sasuke?! Trunks needs our help!" Naruto shouted to his rival.

"No he doesn't. Just look." Sasuke said, not taking his eyes off the battle taking place below him.

Orochimaru held up the saiyan by his head, bringing him up to eye level with the sannin. The force of the impact made a nice sized crater around where he was standing. Trunks, with his eyes still shut, held an open hand up to the sannins stomach. Orochimaru caught a glimpse of a strange yellow light shine from the boy's palm. Before he could react something exploded from the teens hand and launched the sannin back, at the same time releasing Trunks from his grip.

The saiyan shook his head, trying to rid himself of the dizziness and lightheadedness that he felt. Orochimaru seemed unfazed by Trunks' attack, as he was waving away the ash and dust particles that littered his shirt. He seemed to have an amused and curious look etched to his features, "My my, just what sort of attack was that?"

"..." Trunks wasn't going to answer any of his questions.

"No answer? Oh well, I guess I'll just have to beat it out of you." The sannin vanished into the ground below.

Trunks flinched and glanced around, searching for any sign of the sannin. Feeling a presence behind him, he barely had enough time to turn around and cross his arms as the sannins heels slammed into them, the force made the saiyan stumble, though he dug his feet into the ground and launched himself at the sannin.

Orochimaru decided that fighting Trunks hand-to-hand was a very bad idea, so he quickly stepped back and melded into the tree behind him, letting the saiyan's fist tear a hole straight through the bark all the way to his elbow.

Before the prince could move, cords of chakra-enhanced wood slithered out from the tree like snakes around Trunks body, tightly constricting him against the bark.

"Shit!" He cursed. Normally he could simply break free of a bit of wood, but the chakra-enhanced nature of this wood made the task almost impossible.

*_Kukuku, all brawn and no skill to back it up, such a waste.* _A voice rang in his head.

Orochimaru appeared up from the ground behind him. **"Fire-Style: Great Fireball!"**

A fireball spewed from the snake sannins mouth and at Trunks. The instant change in temperature made the saiyan break out in a sweat, a signal that he was gonna have a hell of a tan if that attack landed. With only a few seconds to react, the saiyan screamed and unleashed a violent wave of ki from his body, destroying the tree and flying up in the air, dodging the fireball.

The upper portion of the trunk, separated from its base, fell over and crashed into its brother, shaking the forest floor as it did.

Trunks formed two yellow ki blasts in his hands and fired them down upon the Sannin. Orochimaru moved in a blur down on the forest floor to avoid them. Barely escaping the shockwave and explosion of a certain blast, Orochimaru dived into another Tree, making Trunks curse as the Snake disappeared from his sight.

He sensed for Orochimaru's lifeforce, but found that he couldn't find it.

The saiyan stayed suspended in the air, the only surfaces available for him to land on being the branches to the trees, and the forest floor; _both _being surfaces that Orochimaru could spawn from.

The saiyan didn't notice at first, but the rocks and gravel that lay below the forest floor jarred loose, before they levitated up in the air and around Trunks.

With the saiyan's prince's eyes looking up above him, in the possibility of an aerial attack, he didn't realize the already present danger surrounding him.

"Trunks, look out!" Sakura shouted out to her teammate who's blue eyes widened when he saw the hundreds of rocks and stones levitating in the air around him.

Orochimaru's voice rang out through the forest like an intercom in a highschool classroom, _**"**_**Earth Release: Stone Snowstorm!" **The stones spun and assaulted the saiyan like a miniature cyclone, the speed they were moving being fast and strong enough to shred a normal human being to pieces, but for Trunks, the chakra-enhancements to the stones made it the equivalent to getting beat with over a dozen metal baseball bats… almost everywhere on his body.

A particularly big stone struck the saiyan in the side of his head, turning his vision blurry and dazing him. He'd be lucky he didn't receive a concussion.

The snake-sannin sprouted from the tree across from Trunks and headbutted him, using the saiyan's disorientation to his advantage. Trunks received a flurry of merciless blows from the snake sannin, before he grabbed the older man by his forearm and fired a ki-blast into his chest, tearing a hole straight out the other side.

For a half-second the saiyan smirked when he saw the life fade from Orochimaru's eyes, only for that smirk to instantly fade when the body he held onto melted into clay. 'Shit!' Trunks cursed when he felt the sannins presence above and behind him.

By the skin of his teeth, he dodged a kick that the sannin threw and let the man sail down to the forest floor below. By the time Trunks vision was back to 100%, Orochimaru had landed. Still, he placed both his hands to his forehead and chanted, **"Masenko-ha!"**

The snake-sannin tilted his head as the yellow beam fired down at him. Just before it could reach, he smirked and sunk into the ground. The Masenko lit up the dark forest like it was on fire, but as the light died down and the attack dissipated, Trunks found an empty smoking crater.

As Trunks was about to turn and head back to his friends, he could once more sense Orochimaru, "Son of a…" the saiyan mumbled in disbelief as he turned to look at the saiyan that'd reformed in the crater below. His eyes narrowed, 'He's too fast. It's like every time I hit him with an attack he's already popped up somewhere else.' he thought, fists balling as he realized, 'I might need to jump into super saiyan to even this out,' his eyes narrowed, 'but I won't have the time.'

Orochimaru smiled up at the floating demi-saiyan and chuckled, "Kukuku, I must hand it to you Trunks-kun, never has a genin shown the ability that you have. You interest me. But still, you know that you cannot stop me, so why continue?"

"Is that even a question?" Trunks asked. "You know that if I back down you'd just kill us. I'm no fool, I know that if we try to run, you'd just hunt us down."

The sannin shrugged nonchalantly, "That is only _semi_-true. You see, I'm here not for your scroll, but for a certain one of your teammates." His eyes trailed up to a certain Uchiha in the group, who noticed the sannins gaze.

Sasuke grew afraid. He began backing up until his back pressed against the bark of the tree whose branch he stood on. Orochimaru grinned before saying to Trunks, "I'll be just a minute." Before his body sankinto the crater he stood in.

Naruto panicked, "Wh-Where'd he go?" His eyes shot around, searching for the snake man. Sakura and Trunks were doing much the same thing. Sasuke wouldn't dare move from his spot. He knew that Orochimaru was after him, and he didn't want to put himself clear in the open so he could do whatever it was he was trying to do to him.

Unknown to the Uchiha, two arms slowly slithered from out of tree and encircled tightly around him, holding him still. As Sasuke cried out, Sakura, Naruto, and Trunks' watched helplessly as a head came out of the bark. Orochimaru's head.

Sasuke screamed in agony as two fangs sank deep into his neck, almost like a vampire.

"Sasuke!" Naruto, Sakura, and Trunks yelled. The Uchiha was released, dropping to his knees and squirming as his body felt as if it were on fire.

Trunks joined Naruto and Sakura who gathered around Sasuke's pained body. The pinkettes green eyes grew teary as she took in the Uchihas condition. A large purple welt sprung up from the area he was bit, with two small visible rivulets of blood flowing from under his hand that was covering the wound. When Sakura tried placing hands on the raven haired Genin he let out a loud and pained scream.

Naruto's hands clenched tight and his teeth grit shut. The blue in his eyes bled to red as they trailed to the sannin who appeared on a branch across from them, "What... What the hell did you do to him?" Naruto growled, his voice becoming much more feral and his whisker marks becoming much more thicker.

"Hm, I just left him with a little gift was all. A gift that not very many people survive after receiving, that is." Orochimaru said casually.

A red aura of chakra exploded around Naruto, bathing the blonde in it.

"What the, what is that?" Trunks and Sakura asked themselves. Trunks then came to the conclusion that it had something to do with the fox that was inside Naruto. The sinister feel of the chakra practically gave that away. The air grew warm, very warm. To the point where even Orochimaru could feel the heat radiating off of the blonde.

'So he's the Jinchuriki.' Orochimaru thought to himself.

"Trunks," the Uzumaki's voice came off as a feral growl that chilled Sakura to the bone. Was this Naruto? The blond passed the Demi-saiyan a side glance, "you better hurry up and transform." The Uzumaki unexpectedly leaped out at the sannin, the force and power of his chakra leaving a print of the sole of his shoe etched clear into the bark of the tree branch

Trunks wasted no time. He put some distance between himself and Sakura before building up his ki, the blue flame surrounding him once more. Memories of all of the innocent lives he's seen destroyed began flooding his head. The innocent men, women, and children that were mercilessly slaughtered, Sasuke's injured and possibly dying form, the death of his master Gohan filling him with rage that turned his irises green.

Naruto threw a punch that the sannin swiftly dodged. Orochimaru hopped back onto another branch, watching as Naruto pursued him. "I'll kill you for what you did to Sasuke!" The Uzumaki roared in near blind rage. The fact that the Uzumaki was so angry and as a result fought so poorly made the sannin chuckle. He hadn't even tried to go on the offensive with the Kyuubi brat, he was just evading the blondes punches as if it were child's play. He couldn't deny the boost in strength the Uzumaki gained though, one punch that the Uzumaki threw managed to crack a tree in half. If he did manage to hit him, Orochimaru would definitely feel it.

Growing tired of this game of dodge, Orochimaru decided to stop evading and snatch up the Uzumaki with his tongue. With the long and slippery appendage wrapped around his ankle and hanging him helplessly upside down, Naruto was slung extremely hard into a nearby tree, breaking the flow of chakra that the Uzumaki was receiving and rendering him half-unconscious. The snake man then brought Naruto up closer to him before pulling down his shirt, revealing a strange-looking swirling tattoo on his stomach. The sannins fingers grew outlined in a purple-chakra flame.

Before he could slam his fingers into the blondes stomach, a loud and guttural yell tore through the air, followed by the sound of something exploding.

Orochimaru's head snapped to his left, noticing the phenomena coming from the Briefs boy.

Sasuke, who was just beginning to slip into unconsciousness from within Sakura's arms, was able to catch a glimpse of spiky gold hair. 'Trunks… what are you?...' Were his last thoughts before darkness overtook him.

The snake sannin stared dumbfoundedly at the super saiyan, trying to piece together just what kind of transformation that could have been. The boys once blue eyes were now green, his silky lavender hair was now a tide of spikes, the once blue aura that hugged his body was now gold and spread further out, on top of that his muscles were now larger than they were before. The snake fiend had never seen anything like it. He almost flinched in fear as the boys now hardened eyes focused solely on him.

Deciding he couldn't waste his time on the Uzumaki, he flicked the now unconscious boy away with his tongue, letting him plummet to the forest floor.

Sakura gasped, 'He won't survive that fall!' She pulled out a kunai and threw it at the Uzumaki, managing to catch him by his jacket back and hang him from a tree trunk. "Got him!" Sakura said, proud that she saved her friend.

"Nice shot." The Brief boy said. The casualness in his voice told Sakura that even if she missed, he would have still been able to save him. Trunks voice now contained a much more serious edge to it, the rough and raspy tone that she heard during the battle of the bridge began to surface, "Sakura, I want you to take Sasuke and Naruto and get as far away from here as you as you can."

Realizing that she would be nothing more than excess baggage, she gathered up Sasuke and prepared to grab Naruto.

Trunks kept his eyes on the sannin, making sure that if the man moved a muscle he would be ready to blow him to hell. The sannin also kept his eyes on the saiyan, making sure if he moved an inch he could explode into action.

As the kunoichi grabbed the blonde of her team, she began bounding away into the deeper recesses of the forest. As she hopped through the trees, she turned her head back to see the light of Trunks's aura was still noticeable. She smiled to herself, 'That bastard better watch out, because he's dealing with a god now.' She knew that Trunks would be alright, and she knew that he would take down that snake creep. She began picking up speed, hoping to get herself as far away from the battle that was sure to get messy.

Trunks and Orochimaru watched as Sakura's form disappeared further into the forest. Their gazes locking again.

Trunks smirked, "So, you ready for round two?" The saiyan asked as he unsheathed his sword.

Orochimaru grinned, "It's a sword fight you want, yes?" He leaned his head back and opened his mouth wide. A hand descended down his throat before pulling out a sword. "Let's see just who's superior in this bout."

The two clashed swords, the sound of metal clanging together as they became blurs that danced over the woodland area.

Although the Kusanagi was capable of cutting through almost anything, it was with Trunks super saiyan energy that kept the snakes sword from slicing through his.

Trunks swung his blade and managed to cut a gash in the snake man's robe, surprising him with the impressive amount of skill he displayed. Too bad the sannin's skill was still immensely superior, more experience and such. Orochimaru swung his blade down in an arc, one that would bisect Trunks if he wasn't careful. Luckily the saiyan put up his sword and blocked the incoming strike.

The two began pushing at each other with their swords. Orochimaru grew even more surprised at how much physically stronger the teen had gotten with his transformation. Trunks was slowly pushing his sword to the sannins face.

Trunks knew that Orochimaru may try to replace his body at any given moment, so he settled on letting one hand go free to activate a ki blast into the sannins stomach, blasting the man back and off the branch they stood on.

As the sannin free fell, Trunks began charging his ki into his sword, **'****Lightning Sword Slash!' **The saiyan swung his sword, sending several blades of energy scything after Orochimaru.

The sannin saw the energy blades coming for him and began maneuvering his lanky body to avoid them. As he narrowly dodged the last one and landed on the ground, he turned to see that a whole family of trees were just sliced apart and cleanly leveled. It was a bit nerve wracking to the sannin, knowing that if he was hit that could have been him.

His eyes traveled up to the saiyan, finding him floating in the air and panting as if he were low on breath. But the sannin knew that the boy wasn't completely spent, if that were the case then he probably would have lost that little transformation he held.

"That is quite the transformation. May I ask what it's called?" The sannin asked.

"I don't feel inclined to tell you." The saiyan said smugly.

Orochimaru shrugged, "It doesn't matter. All of your secrets will come to light eventually."

"Okay okay, _fine_, I've never kissed a girl… or was that not the secret you were looking for?" Trunks said sarcastically, his tone of voice grating on the sannins nerves even though he wouldn't show it.

Once again swords clashed, this time with Trunks being the one to strike at Orochimaru. The force of the impact caused a crater to appear in the ground around the two.

The arms of the two swordsman blurred as the two moved lightning fast, trying to score some kind of significant hit. Trunks was nicked in the arms a few times by Orochimaru's sword, but he wasn't able to feel the cuts with the adrenaline coursing through his veins.

The sannin kicked away the saiyan. Trunks came to a stop and held out his left hand, "**Burning," **A blue sphere appeared in the boys hand, prompting Orochimaru to prepare a counter Jutsu,

**"Ninpou!"**

"**Storm!" **A barrage of energy spheres shot out of the teens hand and raced for the sannin who managed to finish his last hand sign just in time,

**"Summoning Technique!"** A massive iron gate with a demonic face etched into the double doors sprang from the ground in front of the sannin. The energy blasts shot into the door, not breaking through, but warping the metal and leaving several deep dents behind before they dispersed.

"Damn!" Trunks cursed, his attack completely failed to penetrate the sannins jutsu. And what was worse, he was running out of energy. And what was even _worse,_ he could sense dozens of other energy signatures heading his way, meaning that other genin taking the exam caught wind of the battle taking place.

'I don't have much time. I'm gonna have to wrap this up quickly.' The saiyan noticed the abused gate sink back into the ground. Orochimaru, obviously hadn't been harmed in the slightest outside of the cuts and bruises that littered the man's face and body.

The sannin couldn't deny that the saiyans tenacity was beginning to piss him off, but, he couldn't deny that he was one of the more interesting genin he had ever fought against. He may actually consider having another body other than Sasuke's.

The thought caused a fanged grin to spread across his face. His elongated neck shot after the saiyan.

XXX

On the outskirts of the forest of death, a Buddha statue sat covered in blood. In front of it lied three blood splattered corpses. Only, something was off about them.

"I can't believe it," Anko started, "Their faces are missing." She had been called in to observe by a group of Chunin.

"I've never seen anything like it, there's nothing where there faces used to be. It's like they just melted or something." One of the Chunin pointed out.

Anko slowly began to gain a strong sense of realization. She felt the edge of her neck where her curse mark resided. She knew exactly who did this. And she was gonna make him pay!

Anko turned to the other shinobi. She pointed at one of them and began barking orders. "You, go to the Hokage and tell him exactly what we saw! Then tell him to send in an Anbu black ops squad into the forest of death after me!" Without another word, Anko took off into the forest.

XXX

For the third time, Trunks sent Orochimaru's neck twisting around like a spring. The sannin was hellbent on biting Trunks like he did Sasuke, but the young super saiyan wouldn't allow it. As Orochimaru stopped to readjust his neck from Trunks's punch, the sound of bones crackling filling the air, the saiyan wasted no time and charged in to land a mountain splitting punch, making the sannin fold over onto the teenagers fist.

Trunks felt a moment of satisfaction that quickly wore off when the sannins body melted into a pile of liquid clay.

'_Again, _with the substitutions. I'm really getting sick of that!' Trunks groaned in his head. He began scanning the forest floor for the sannin, pivoting around on his feet so he wouldn't get caught by surprise. There couldn't be very many places for the snake man to hide, Trunks was down on the forest floor and from the looks of things, he and Orochimaru had leveled most of the forest ground for several kilometers across. The ground was actually covered in craters, leaves, sawdust, and woodchips from all of the trees that were destroyed.

His senses were slammed by the sannins energy coming _right from the ground below his feet_. He shot into the air as two hands burst from the ground where his ankles were. The sannin then rose from the dirt as if it were a lake.

Orochimaru tilted his head up at the saiyan who appeared to be now completely exhausted. He was sweating like a pig and breathing like he just ran around the world and back. The cut to his cheek had stopped bleeding and clotted some time ago, the other cuts and bruises that covered his body had multiplied as the fight dragged on. His track jacket was so shredded that he had decided to discard it, leaving him in his black t-shirt that also had gashes and holes in it.

Even though the sannin took a heavy beating over the course of the fight, having gained a near similar amount of cuts and bruises, it didn't matter. Because the sannin had shed his skin just a little while ago, leaving him brand new with the only difference being a severe depletion of his chakra. "You're exhausted Trunks-kun, I can tell." The sannin told the saiyan, another snake-like grin made its way onto his features, "You also know as well as I, that you cannot defeat me. You may be stronger, more powerful, and with that transformation you can keep up with my speed... but you're simply too young. You lack enough battle experience. You lack a good _teacher." _The snake sannin stretched the last word as a means to allude Trunks.

Trunks appeared to be thinking, before he sighed and smiled, "Well, you're right about a few things. I am out of energy." The super saiyan form melted from his body, "Almost!" Trunks arms flashed around in a blur, "**Burning Attack!" **A yellow star of energy shot from the saiyans outstretched hands and down at Orochimaru.

The sannin dodged the star itself but the explosion knocked him off his feet, also picking up a wave of dirt and dust that obscured Orochimaru's view.

After the dust cloud settled, Orochimaru looked around, only to notice Trunks was gone.

The thought that a genin managed to not only go toe to toe with him in combat, but also give him of all people the slip, was enough to make him scream in rage. A_ boy _managed to take him, one of the sannin, on and live to tell the tale. The man looked up to the sky to see that it was now orange, meaning it would now be sunset soon.

He stopped and chuckled, "It doesn't matter now, does it Trunks-kun. I'll mark you eventually." He sunk into the ground, his voice coming off as a echo, "_I always get what I want_."

XXX

Anko's curse seal was on fire. The deeper into the forest she went the more she could feel of her old sensei's presence. Not too far behind her was a small convoy of Anbu Black Op members. As she trekked closer to the area where her old sensei's chakra was the strongest, she noticed that the forest grew increasingly more destroyed.

Eventually she had to come to a stop, and when she did she gasped at the aftermath of the battle. Uprooted and destroyed trees, smoking and smoldering craters, and wood pulp littered the forest floor.

"Goodness, what happened here?" An Anbu asked as he caught up to the snake jonin. The others had similar thoughts.

"I guess someone threw down with Orochimaru." Anko said, more intrigued than angry at the fact that the snake bastard got away, "If they're alive, they're either really strong or really damn lucky."

XXX

The sun was now set over the forest of death, leaving the woods a near pitch-black dark. Sakura had managed to find refuge under a partly uprooted tree some time ago. There had been enough space underneath to place Sasuke and Naruto's unconscious forms. Now, the pinkette waited anxiously for the swordsman of her team to make a return.

A startled gasp escaped Sakura's lips at the sound of a rustling coming from nearby bushes. She almost instinctively threw a kunai only to see the shadow of a chipmunk scurry out of it. She sighed, 'Come on, keep it together Sakura. The last thing you wanna do is screw around and give your position away. Especially when you've got two wounded teammates.' She turned behind her to take a glance at Naruto and Sasuke's unconscious forms.

Naruto was snoozing like a baby. Sasuke, on the other hand, was a totally different picture. A sheen of sweat covered the Uchihas skin, soaking into his cloths as well. His skin turned a sickly pale as well, backed up by the raven haired boys strained and pained wheezing. Sakura had placed a wet towel on the boy's head in an attempt to control his fever, but judging by how soaked his clothes were now, it didn't seem to be helping.

She turned back to the outside, growing increasingly anxious once again, 'Where are you Trunks, it's been hours now. Surely it wouldn't take you _this _long to beat that creep.' That's when another more darker thought hit her. What if Trunks _didn't _win? What if Orochimaru killed him? What if her crush was lying lifeless on the forest floor while Orochimaru was out looking for her? The thoughts sent a chill down her spine, making her knees tremble and her hands shake, "Please be okay Trunks. Please please _please _be okay." She begged.

Her heart stopped at the sound of a heavy rustling coming from the bushes and foliage. She gripped her kunai tight, so tight that she could hear the skin of her palm strain against the metal of the hilt. As the rustling grew more and more aggressive, she shut her eyes in fear, which she knew was a foolish thing to do, but her dread got the better of her.

"S...Sakura."

Her eyes snapped open at the tired voice. She saw it was the saiyan that she was waiting for stumbling out of the wooded foliage. He was slouched over from exhaustion and covered in battle scars. "Trunks-kun!" Sakura ran over and hugged the saiyan, making him yelp in pain. That made Sakura let go and let out a sheepish 'sorry'. After taking in his condition, she almost hissed, "Wow, you really took a thrashing huh?"

Trunks let out a weak laugh, "You have no idea." A fist crashed into the back of his skull, courtesy of Sakura. "Owww, what was that for?" Trunks whined. Now he knew how Naruto felt, Sakura could punch!

"That was for worrying me to death you idiot!" Sakura scolded, "You stay behind to fight a creepy snake whack job, and then you don't come back all day. Do you have any idea how worried I was?!"

Now that Trunks thought about it, he was gone for a pretty long time. The sun was at its highest in the sky when he started the exam, and when he last checked his watch, it was well past 9, meaning he was gone for at least 9 hours. "I guess you have a point. Sorry. I think the reason it took so long was because I had to walk. And since I was out of energy, I had to dodge other teams so I didn't get my ass kicked."

After hearing that explanation, Sakura felt a little bad about punching him, "Well, you'll be okay now. I found shelter." She guided him to her spot under the tree. Upon entering, Trunks sorely laid down, trying to relax his exhausted and beaten body. His eyes traveled to Sasuke,

"How's he holding up?" Trunks asked, even though his answer was pretty obvious.

Sakura used the sheet of moss on the side of the tree as a curtain, shielding the team from view. She answered without turning to him, "He... He's not much better." Sakura said, her shoulders slouching. "The swelling from the bite went down. A little. Other than that, I'd say he's gotten _worse." _The pinkette turned to the Uchiha, lip trembling the longer she looked him over. She turned to Trunks who was lying down next to Naruto, "So, what happened to Orochimaru? Did you... you know?"

Trunks found himself unable to look at the pinkette. His gaze went straight up to the moss and root covered roof of their shelter, "No, I didn't. I Lost." He heard Sakura gasp. "As a super saiyan we were even, but he was the better fighter than me. That was a fact, and he knew it. If I went on any longer, he might've killed me."

That thought scared her. She hadn't gotten to see just what _exactly _Trunks was capable of as a super saiyan, but there was just something about the display of it that made it seem godlike. And if Orochimaru was capable of besting Trunks, even in his transformation, then she knew that was something to fear.

"Anyways," Trunks turned over to get in a resting position, "I'm spent. I really hate to tell you this Sakura, but as I am, I'm about as harmful as a kitten. You're on your own until Naruto wakes up." The saiyan closed his eyes, letting his body savor it's well deserved rest. In a matter of seconds he was out like a light.

Sakura wanted to say something, to beg him to stay up with her. But that would be selfish, she knew that. She knew that to ask of anything from her team would be selfish, especially since they were doing all of the fighting. She sighed before moving to peek from the moss curtain, just to make sure there were no nearby enemies.

But, although she looked, she failed to notice the three pairs of eyes staring at her from their position upon a tall tree branch.

"Heh, look at her. That dumb broad has no idea what's going on." Said a rough looking teenager with spiked up hair. He gave off an air that he carried a bad reputation and he knew it. The teenagers name was Zaku.

A member of his team, a bandaged up man with a strange metal gauntlet on his right hand, said "What an amateur. We've been here for a while and she's still failed to notice us. And from the look of it, at least one of her teammates is down." His name was Dosu. One could say he was reminiscent of a mummy, with only one eye visible under his wrappings.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's finish our mission." A girl with long black hair said. Her hair was actually _too_ long, especially considering its length went down past her waist. A small bow at the end kept it all together. She moved to hop down from the branch, but Dosu's gauntleted arm blocked her.

"No Kin, not yet. They may have Uchiha Sasuke with them, and we don't need to face them without knowing what each of them are capable of." Dosu said.

"So what do you want us to do?" Zaku said irritably.

"We wait."

XXX

Sakura couldn't help but think back on what Trunks said earlier. She was all alone, and her teammates were counting on _her _to protect them while they were down. Her green eyes narrowed before gazing over her resting teammates.

'I won't let you down guys, I _promise_.' She swore in her head.

A fighter, she was not, and she knew that. But, she knew damn well she could lay down a decent trap. She pulled out a kunai and some wire, before getting to work.


End file.
